We enjoyed a special Memorial Day weekend visit from Dave and Jenny, Liz, Julie, Penny, Mary and little Chris! You can't begin to imagine how much my kids adored spending time with these sweet little cousins of theirs. It was a highlight of the month for sure to be able to hang out together for a few days. Anna cried so hard when they left that she could barely control herself! She was devastated in every way! Evelyn enjoyed braiding the girls' hair, and playing with little Chris. He actually really grew fond of her though initially he was nervous because she looked suspiciously like a babysitter- haha! Dane and Grant loved swimming and laughing and watching movies with the older cousins, and also chasing around little mary and chris. Anna was in actual heaven with Penny --her best friend on earth-- as she would later express. She also enjoyed the babies and maybe gave them a little too much love- ha! We had a fun couple of days, talking and relaxing, eating ice cream, visiting Mission Beach and Belmont Park, the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Temple. Loved having this sweet family out to visit. So grateful that they would spend their vacation time with us and hope that never changes.
This month we celebrated Blake's 42nd birthday with a delicious Cafe Rio meal at home. Boy, was it ever hard finding a night we could all celebrate together at home. It was laughable how busy and full our schedule was! With chorus concerts, lacrosse games, extended soccer practices, tech week for wizard of oz, CYT rehearsals! I almost gave up on the whole idea. But luckily we decided he was worth the celebration. We waited until the whole family arrived home at 8pm and that's when we had dinner and strawberry shortcake. It may have been a later bedtime than usual- but it was a fun time had by all. I sure love Blake and am so grateful for the amazing father and husband he is.
Mother's Day was another celebration we "fit" in during our hectic month of May- ha! You can't begin to imagine what that weekend looked like for all involved- but especially me. It was CRAZY. We had hosted a wedding in our backyard the evening before. I was in charge of refreshments at Evelyn's play from 12-5 on Sunday, I was also playing the organ in church that morning, in charge of the Primary's musical number, and singing time too! It was just a wild day! But thankfully Blake had the home front covered and we all enjoyed a delicious meal upon my return. I can't remember what that meal was... but it was delicious. My kids had made super sweet cards for me, Blake had sees candy and flowers and had also ordered an outdoor patio set and put it all together for me while I was away. I love it! It was a big bonus to have my mom in town to celebrate too. For mother's day I had ordered a necklace with"much love" inscribed on the small gold plate. It was really cute and I think she liked it.
So grateful that we were able to meet up with Nancy that weekend as well to have dinner (before Evelyn's play) and quickly hug her and tell her what an amazing mother and grandmother she is!!! We are so blessed by her kindness and goodness in our lives.
my mom as a teenager
my mom as a little girl!
Lizzie's wedding!!! What a wonderful weekend we had hosting Lizzie's wedding reception in our backyard! We are her biggest fans and have been for 8 years! She is wonderful in every way and when it came to hosting her reception, we were thrilled to do it. Loved seeing how the backyard could be transformed into a beautiful party venue. Everything looked fabulous and it was fun for the kids to work at the event and earn money. They were servers and dishwashers and smoothie makers. It was so much fun and we had the best evening ever!
Don't assume that since the month was jam packed with everything under the sun, a Mom like me didn't take the opportunity to venture north to LA for a girls weekend for some much needed rest and relaxation! Haha! Though it didn't seem possible to squeeze in, we made it happen-- all to celebrate Jessica's 40th birthday! And it was so much fun. We visited the Getty, the Griffith Observatory, hiked to the Hollywood sing (sort of), ate lots of yummy food, did Universal City Walk, and talked till all hours of the night. So much fun. And none of it would've been possible without Nancy offering to save the day as usual! She came down and took care of the kids and especially Evelyn and all of her theatrical needs for the weekend. It was quite the moment for me to escape, seeing as I was also supposed to be putting in volunteer hours and man-power at the theatre!!!! Grandma took over for all of that and even drove Ev and her friends up to Disneyland the next day! She made it fun for the kids with her long "list" of jobs and chores that she frightened them with! I was so grateful for her kindness to show up and be there for our family once again!!!!! And Blake too, of course, is always so awesome and giving whenever I want to get away. I am so grateful.
In family news- Noah went to prom with his really good friend... dare I say, girlfriend, Lydia, this month! Smalls (Jamie's foster baby) turned one! And please enjoy a few memes that Jamie and I exchanged along with snapchat filters of our family for your viewing pleasure.
