Baptism Birthday Bash

Whew what a whirlwind of a weekend it has been- but it was GREAT. We had a blast with everyone that came out for it and are so happy and blessed to have such a wonderful family! We love you all and thank you very much for making our children know what family is truly about!

Let the festivities begin...

THURSDAY: I checked out of work at 3 and walked to Siven's school to help him celebrate his birthday with all his classmates. They were all sitting at their tables, in their PJs (Siven requested a PJ day for his birthday and his teachers obliged) awaiting thier afternoon snack. I quickly handed out napkins with bugs on them, and started asking the kids what bugs they saw on them and what colors they were. As they were all scrambling to tell me, I started passing out the bug sugar cookies I had stayed up till 1:30 am making- and they were a hit (making it all worth it). The kids ate their snacks and sang happy birthday to Siven and then danced and played till their parents showed up to take them home. I handed out little paper mache bug catchers filled with gummy bugs, bug finger puppets, foam growing insects (the kind you put into water and watch grow) and a bug sticker sheet. They all really enjoyed that too.

FRIDAY: The morning started off a little crazy. We dropped an extra car off at the hotel everyone was staying at and then took Jesse to work and then I ran errands with the kids. My parents and grandma Lora arrived (they were supposed to fly in Thursday evening but the flight got cancelled), and they were making their way to the hotel (yeah free shuttle service!) and then to the house. Shortly after that, Steve, Kathy, GG & Lynn had arrived too.

I left the kids in the care of my mom and took off to our local neighborhood grocer and placed an order for sandwhiches for all. It was then off to the airport, where I picked up Auntie Merrie (aka the raisin lady). We headed back to the house, and had lunch with the gang and witnessed something that I would have never thought imaginable. GG decided that she needed a swimming suit to use at the hotel pool, and had forgot to pack one. She initally asked if she could borrow a full peice suit of mine, but I told her there was no way she would fit into it, seeing as it is a very snug fit on me. She then asked for my maternity bathing suit, and well...they say a picture is worth a thousand words....

After lunch the kids took naps and Merrie and I set out to explore the new Nordstroms that was having their grand opening sale. We had a blast on our short shopping excurision. Afterward we picked Jesse up from work and headed back to the house. Dinner that evening was held at a local mexican restaurant, where a good time was had by all- and pop pop got put on time out by his grandson.

SATURDAY: Started off quite, since everyone stayed at the hotel- which was very nice on multiple levels. I started making Siven's birthday cakes for the party later that afternoon, as well as eggs and coffee for breakfast. We picked up an assortment of pasteries and everyone made their way over to the house for breakfast. My brother and his girlfreind, Jenny, arrived from the airport that morning as well and caught up with everyone. We then packed everyone into the 3 vehicles we had at our disposal and made our way out for our outdoor adventure. We met up with Jesse's parents at the park, and had a great time. The day was beautiful and we all had a great time walking around the park and visitor center. The highlight for me though, was sitting Siven down on the stage and singing Happy Birthday to him- the whole park could hear us and cheered for Siven when it was done. Later that afternoon Jesse's family came over and we had a birthday party for Siven...and he made out like a bandit! Everyone enjoyed hanging out, eating the BBQ we had catered and devouring the bug cakes.

SUNDAY: We woke up to a snowy day. Everyone met up at our house and then we convoyed over to the church for the early morning service to have Addie baptized. The service was great, and Addie was wonderful. She sat in the pastors arms just taking it all in, walked the whole lenght of the church and didn't fuss once. She looked beautiful in the gown in which her brother donned only 2 years earlier. The pastor made special mention of the gown too- since it has been worn by everyone on my dad's side of the family, starting with him...meaning the gown is over 50 years old. After church we headed over to the hotel where everyone was staying and had a lovely brunch. It was really great.

All in All everyone had such a great time, and we were very happy and blessed to have so much of our family around our children at this special time in their lives!