The Company Of Angels

Here: INTERLACHEN – Curled in her crib, asleep on a pink pillow, the little girl looks perfect.

"Good morning! How's my baby?" her mother says quietly, coming into the room. She bends over the crib, strokes the 3-year-old's dark curls from her forehead. "Hey Addie, Addie Joy … You going to wake up for me? We got to get you ready."

Laverne Larsen, 64, crosses to the closet and pulls out a small black velvet dress with a skirt of lilac taffeta. As she turns back to the crib, another daughter bounds in, followed by a son. This daughter is 7 and barefoot. "Anna Rose, you need to get your hair ribbon," Laverne says. The boy is 11. "Noah, you really should have something nicer than those big sneakers for church."

As the children scamper off, Laverne bends to lift Addie Joy. "Come on, little one," she says. "We got to get you baptized."