Family Reunions. You Gotta Love Them

We always have more than one family reunion to go to every year. There is the annual reunion of my grandpa and grandma's descendants. We love going to this reunion, as it is held in beautiful Logan Canyon at a tiny little cabin that my grandparents built a million years ago. My grandparents have been gone for a long time now, and only half of their daughters are still living (including my sweet mom), but the tradition lives on, and we all love to gather and remember the wonderful couple who started this family. We usually get a few of my kids and their spouses tagging along, which we love. It is always a truly lovely day.

And then there is another annual reunion that is even closer to home in more ways than one. It is the reunion of my parents and all of their descendants. Since they had 6 daughters and 33 grandchildren, and oodles of great-grands, this is a good-sized reunion, and always lots of fun. Most of us live within an hour of each other, so we do see each other throughout the year at different times, but there is still something special about getting together specifically for a reunion. We haven't had this one yet this year... it is coming up on Monday, and I'm sure a great time will be had by all!

And (drumroll, please) this year was the first (of many) reunions for Bob and I and our descendants. It seems strange to have a reunion with our names at the head of it! There are only 12 of us at the moment, with 2 more on the way, but we knew we needed to start sometime and this seemed as good a time as any. We wanted the grand-babies to grow up knowing we've held the reunions since they were born. Now, some may wonder why we would need a reunion, because we all live within 30 minutes (some as close as just down the street) from each other, and all of the menfolk in the family work for Bob, and see each other many times a day. But as I said above, there is something special about getting together for a reunion and celebrating being a family. We played together, and talked and laughed and ate together. It was a sweet moment in time for Bob and I.

We love this family! Number 1 and 2 grandbabies didn't want
to hold their own signs, but you get the point...

We started the day out with a grand kids treasure hunt. Since only one of our grand kids is actually walking, we had him put a treasure in his bag, and then one in his cousin's bag. It was darling, and fun to think about the future years when we will have lots of grand kids running around our trails.

And is a reunion really a reunion without the "guess how many candies in the jar" game? I think not.

While the kabobs were cooking, we lazed around on the deck. There were coloring pages of each member of the family strewn across the tables with crayons, for kiddos and anyone else who felt like coloring. We had some real masterpieces that I wish I had taken photos of! I also put one of each of the coloring pages into a "coloring book" for each of the grand kids to take home and color later on (or when they are old enough to actually know what a crayon does).

We also had my niece come up and take some real photos of our family. Can't wait to see how they turned out!

That night we played a family quiz game to get to know all of the members of the family a little better. It was enlightening and lots of fun. And for answering correctly, you got to have a ticket in the raffle with your name on it, which is all good, since it upped your chances of winning something at the end of the night. Each couple ended up winning at least one thing at the raffle. Yay! 

Our first ever reunion wasn't fancy or elaborate, but it was exactly what I had hoped. And it gave us a great jumping off point for many, many years to come!

Yep... it is ALWAYS worth the time and effort to go to family reunions. You definitely have to love them! 

A baby and a wedding... all within 12 hours!

Oh boy. This past week has been one of those, "Hang on, or you'll fall off the train" kind of weeks. We spent the first few days of the week preparing for our son's wedding, which was last Friday. There was a fair amount of running around and getting things crossed of my list, but I felt like we had a good handle on it. Then came Wednesday evening. We went to the temple with my son's fiance in preparation for their wedding. While we were there, we joked that "Lindsay is probably going into labor since we're all here, and she can't get in touch with us". In reality, her due date wasn't til March 17th, so we felt pretty safe. As soon as we got back to our phones, we realized that our joking matter was a reality. Her water broke while we were all gone! Thankfully, it turned out that she had a while to wait for baby to arrive, so things were somewhat in control. She was just starting to get panicky, though.

She didn't really start labor til the next day, but we were still sleeping lightly and checking our phones all through the night, in case we had somehow slept through an important call from her. That next day, Thursday, I had about a zillion things to do -- all of those pre-wedding things that have to wait til the last day to get done. So, I set up for the luncheon at the reception center. I was pretty fragmented in my thought process all day long, so I forgot things, or decided I needed to add this or that... I was going back and forth from our home to the reception center to See's (not a bad stop... they gave me a sample every time I dropped in) all day long.

See's Chocolates for all...
can't go wrong with that!

A glass candlestick from the dollar store,
with a cork in the top. We inserted a paper clip
into the cork, and that was the clip
that held the photos in place.

I finally got all of that in place, and about that same time, Lindsay and Ryan were getting checked into the birthing center.

Bob, Whitney and I all headed there to be the support group. Lindsay did a great job (no epidural... whaaaaatt?!) and we watched so many reruns of Pawn Stars that we saw Chumlee lose weight and grow his hair long all in one night. To make several hours of labor into a shorter story, somewhere around 10:30, Linday was dilated to a 6. A half hour later, she moved to a 9. As the midwife walked past us (we were all out in the waiting room at the time, including Ryan, who was out with us for a bit), I asked her, "You're going to let Ryan know when she starts pushing, right?", and she said, "Oh, yes... we'll start that in a while, and we'll come and get him". We chatted for a few minutes, and the midwife suddenly pops in and says excitedly, "The baby was just born!". Again, whaaaaatt?! Linds literally let out a yell, and the wee one was born. Just like that. Can you stand it?! We all missed it, including Ryan!

And it's a girl! They had waited to find out, so we all had our guesses, but no one knew for sure. They named her Zuma Preslie, and she is a doll... perfect in every way.

We didn't end up leaving the birthing center til 1:30am, and we climbed into bed around 2:00. I tossed and turned a bit, over-excited by the new grandbaby's birth, and also anticipating the wedding events of the next day. I heard Lindsay and Ryan come in at about 3:30 (they don't really let you stay long at the birthing center, so we had offered for them to come and stay at our house for a week or so). I got up and helped them get settled, and then climbed back into bed to try to get a few hours of sleep before the big day ahead.

And Friday was beautiful. Everything went as planned -- the wedding, the luncheon and the reception. It was a lovely, exhausting day, and I couldn't have been more thrilled. Wils is our last child to get married, and he married a gem! We count ourselves the luckiest people in the world to have all of our kids married to truly amazing, beautiful people. We love them all, and consider them our own.

Our family... missing the newest little family of three

These are some of the wedding reception details. I didn't have anything to do with the reception decor, but I loved what they did, and wanted to share...

Vintage bi-fold doors with
lace-filled embroidery hoops

Gorgeous paper flowers strewn across the walls

The "sign-in book" was squares of fabric that the guests
signed their names and a message on, which will later
be made into a quilt

A quilt square waiting to be written on

My grandson's handprint on his quilt square

The beautiful couple!

Sweet Pea Baby Shower

The baby shower turned out great! My daughter Whitney planned out all of the decorations while I was with my husband floating in the ocean somewhere around Panama. She is amazing, and it makes me think I'll need to plan another trip right before the next event I have at my home.

The theme was "Sweet Pea". We couldn't do a boy or girl themed shower, since we don't know the gender of the baby yet. 

I had my niece Joanna design the invitations. She is so very talented at everything graphic arts.

I wish I had taken photos of the food table all laid out with the scrumptious food. But, that was right when the festivities were starting, and I was otherwise occupied. Suffice it to say, it was all delicious. My friend Kristen made the frosted sugar cookies. Divine. In fact, before things even started, my husband was on his way out to a meeting, and wondered aloud whether I had stashed some away for us to have later. Indeed I had. Probably more than we need, but I've definitely got us covered for a while. We also had a fruit plate and a delicious cheese ball with crackers, and personal vegie cups.

Of course we couldn't just serve plain old water bottles. I bought a brand with a plastic label, which made it really easy to remove. And then I just tied a small piece of green tulle around each bottle. So easy, and it doesn't matter if the tulle gets wet or cold, or whatever. It looks great no matter what.

And at the end of the buffet was where the guests could cast their ballot as to which gender they think the baby is.

And I'm pleased to announce, the "he's" have it. If the ladies have anything to do about it, the baby is a boy!

Here are some of Whitney's darling decorations...

She made the darling felt raindrops and hung them from "clouds" to hang over the gift area... a baby "shower". So cute!

We had the guests put the gifts in our old bassinet. My mom had her own babies sleep in this very same bassinet, and I had mine sleep in it too. It originally cost my mom $18.00. I'd say we got (and are still getting) our use out of that! I love it!

Garlands made by Whitney.

Dishes of candies and gum, all looking a lot like peas.

More pea decorations...

Whitney helped me put these favors together for the guests as they left the shower...

Baby Shower Game

Since we're just a couple of months away from our second grand-baby making an appearance into the world, we're getting into full baby mode again. The new little one is due on March 17th (St. Patrick's Day!), and we don't know the gender (the suspense is killing me), but we're plunging forward with plans and excited about his/her arrival. I'm thinking it's a boy, but we'll see....

We're working on shower plans as we speak, and it made me think of a fun shower game we played just a couple of months ago.

It's simple to prepare for, and simple to play (the best kind of shower game!), and just takes a few minutes.

First of all, gather as many different kinds of baby items as you can think of. The more, the merrier. Throw some really random baby items in there to make it a little harder. Arrange them all on a tray or a wide, shallow basket so that each item can be seen.

Using card stock of your choice, cut a sheet for each of your guests. You can pre-print numbers for each item, or just leave them blank. 

At the shower, you'll walk slowly past each guest with the tray of items, and let them view it. And then place the tray out of sight from everyone. Then, pass out the papers and pens, and at your signal, let everyone write as many items as they can think of. You can tell them how many items you have, or you can just let them try to figure it out and remember as many as they can.  

Give them a certain amount of time to write as many of the items as they can (maybe three minutes or so), and then bring the tray back in and show the items one at a time. The guest who has the most correct items wins. And if they have written down items that aren't on the tray, they have to subtract points. That alleviates those smarty-pants who just randomly write down every baby item they can think of, even if they don't remember what's on the tray!

The prize could be something like a baby bottle filled with jelly-bellies or something along those lines. It's a fun game, and variations can be played for bridal showers with homemaking kinds of items.

29 Year Anniversary

Excuse me whilst I get personal for a few minutes. But it can't be helped. It is a great day!

29 years ago today, I married the man of my dreams. I know that sounds a little cliche, but I'm telling you... as a young girl, teenager, and young adult, I had the same hopes and dreams about my future. They never changed. When I was in grade school, I remember having to write down what we "wanted to be when we grew up", and I wrote two words: A Mom. My teacher didn't think that was enough, and tried to get me to write something in addition to that, but I couldn't come up with anything else. There wasn't anything else, as far as my hopes and dreams were concerned. Now, if I had been on my toes, I might have changed it to: Wife and Mother. But, to me they were all encompassed in one word anyway. That all went without saying.

And then, when I was 21, I met Bob. And that's where the hopes and dreams turned into a reality. I'm not saying our lives have been perfect and free from trials and challenges since we've been married. We've had our share, and I'm sure there's more to come. That's just part of being on this earth. But through it all, I've always been living my dreams. (Again, cliche) But there's no other way to put it. 

And who knew? My mom told me that through the years we would just continue to grow more and more in love, and I couldn't really comprehend loving Bob more than I did the day I married him. But now I get it. I know that what she said is completely true. 

Our lives continue to get more and more full. The experiences we have are like beautiful pieces of a quilt -- all different patterns and shapes, but fitting together and making the whole quilt more and more beautiful as it continues to grow. 

And I say to myself, "How can this quilt possibly be any more beautiful than it is now?". And then, as the next son or daughter-in-law, or grand baby is added to the family, their is more beauty. And even when we have something really hard and sometimes really painful to go through, as we make it through the other side of it, we take another look at our "quilt" and lo and behold, it has become that much more lovely. 

How little did I know 29 years ago, when I was that smiling, happy bride, that my life would be this deeply rich and sweet. Words can't express how blessed and eternally grateful I am for the man that has been by my side and made every bit of it possible. Oh, how I love you, Bob.

Buffet Food Signs

When we had our 50th birthday party (that sounds like I'm the queen of England, talking about "our" birthday party... both Bob and I had our 50th birthdays four days apart, so that's why is used the word "our") ...anyway, as I was saying, when we had our birthday party, I made some little chalkboard buffet signs because we had several different kinds of cake. I wanted people to know what they were eating.

The signs were easy to make, and I'll be able to use them again for other events.

I had Bob cut out several little pieces of wood with his magic laser machine. I think you could find little wood shapes at Joann's or Hobby Lobby, or even online.

I spray-painted the wood signs with spray chalkboard paint. They covered really well, but I gave them three good, solid coats, just to be sure.

After they dried, I chalked down the surfaces, then wiped it off with a soft cloth. This gave them all  more of a used chalkboard look, and also made it so that if I were using chalk on them, they would be easier to erase.

I ended up using a Bistro Chalk Marker that I got at Joann's. I like the look of the sharp lines, instead of chalk, since these were on the small side.

And voila... the finished product, just waiting for the scrumptious cake! I found the tiny easels at Joann's, too.

After the party, I wiped the little signs down with a wet cloth, and now we're back to blank signs. I think they will be useful for other parties, but I also may use them for a little talent show/art display we have coming up in Activity Days.

They Say Its Our Birthdays...

Last night was the big night for our 50th birthday(s) party! It was really the perfect way to usher in our 50th(s)... to be surrounded by our kids, grand-baby, mom, sisters and brothers, nieces, nephews, and many friends who all mean so much to us and have been a part of our lives and our happiness. I loved looking around the room and seeing the faces of those people who are so important to us, mingling and laughing together and meeting new people. Sweet, sweet memories I'll hold in my heart for a long time to come!

As I laid in bed last night, I thought of several more things I could or should have done for the party to prepare a little better, but overall, it went by without a hitch.

We didn't go too overboard on the decorations, but enough to say it was a special day.

With the helium shortage (still can't get my arms around that), I decided to go a different route, and Lindsay and I tied balloons to thin wooden dowels so that they were in an "arrangement" for the table. It ended up being a cute, easy way to make a colorful fun centerpiece without having to try to work with helium.

Okay, this isn't the first time I've used this Happy Birthday Garland. I made it for my mom's 80th birthday party, and the colors end up being perfect for other birthdays, so I reuse it now and again. It was perfect for the colors for our party!

This was a sign that depicted our 50 years of life. It starts with our hospital and baby photos up at the top of the "5", and goes through our childhood and teenage years, and then on the "0", it starts at the top with our wedding announcement, and follows the years as it circles around. I have a gazillion photos of me as a baby and child, but not many of Bob. And I have a gazillion photos of Bob since we've been married, but not many of me (since I'm the one usually snapping photos). But, it all worked out okay and was a fun way to show us through the years and at the same stages of life.

If you didn't know our history, check out our birthday party invitations that my niece Joanna designed for us. It tells our story of being born in the same hospital, four days apart.

These are the cake pedestals before we put the cakes on them.

I know. I should have taken a photo of the little cake garland before we cut into the cake, but we were getting close to the start of the party, and starting to scramble a bit to get everything ready.

And these were the little favors that the guests took as they left.

Bob used his magic laser machine and etched in some subway-style birthday sentiments on the bags. They turned out just exactly the way I imagined!

What a great evening! We didn't take even one photo while the party was going on. We had the camera there, but once 7:00 hit, we didn't have a minute's time to have someone take photos (something I should have arranged with someone before-hand, but oh well). I also didn't have any time to get back into the kitchen to see if the cakes were holding out and if the water tub needed more water bottles in it. Luckily we didn't quite run out of anything, so it was all good!