Julia's Bridal Shower

For those of you who don't know... my beautiful, wonderful, amazing friend, Julia, is getting married in less than two weeks! She asked me to be her MoH, so I have had some planning to do. This past Saturday I threw her her shower. It was a little crazy. I just returned from San Francisco on Thursday and the shower was on Saturday.

Midnight trips to Winco

3 a.m. bed times

9 a.m. wake-ups

Lots of cleaning...

cooking...

cutting...

organizing...

preparing...

phone calls...

brainstorming...

it was a blast.

Have I ever mentioned that I love throwing parties. Only trouble is... I've never been to a shower, let alone thrown one! So, it was an adventure. I learned a lot. I now know a lot of things that I would do different. Here's a snippet of the festivities.

Since I went right from home to Utah to San Fran, I was not able to clean up the major damage my brother and I created until I returned from visiting my mom.

Before:

After:

We invited about 80 people to the shower! Talk about insanity. So, I was prepared for the worst. I only had about 30 seats (thanks to President and Sister Lantz!), so I prepared for some floor sitters... with pillows!

Nicole was my shopping buddy. Cart full of food. Hours at the grocery store. Speedy trip to Dugualla. Lots of math and guesstimating. Second-guessing at the dollar store.

Sarah B helped me out so much!! It would have been a ton more work and time for me if I had not had her gracious and incredible help! She sliced, chopped, washed, organized, mixed, dipped, drizzled tons of the food!

Sister Fowler was also generous enough to make a delicious eclair dessert (the hit of the party, I will have you know). On top of that, Ciera also lent a helping hand and made her awesome PB rice krispies. Thanks ladies!

Before:

After:

Seriously?! They barely made a dent. Plus, this wasn't even nearly all the food. I didn't even put out the chips and salsa. There were a lot more fruit and veggies. Lots of drink. More chocolate popcorn. Ah well. I think just under 30 people came and it was a fun group!

Enjoy these scandalous pictures of Julia. Tip: make sure to click on the pic, to get some good detail ;)

She got away with some rocking-awesome gifts.

I hope everyone had fun. We played a couple games, ate some yummy food, talked lots, laughed some, and enjoyed watching Julia open her presents!

Again, I learned a ton. Anyone need a shower/party to be planned?

;)

Frisco & Chino

I got to visit my mom in California for 9 days! It was awesome. I actually started to miss the Foggy City.. and my mom, too... I guess ;)

Over the Fourth weekend, my mom and I drove down to Chino, to visit my grandma. Kris, Leslie, and the kiddos also met us down there. It was so much fun. I haven't seen my grandma in such a long time. She is such a wonderful and good lady. I also loved reminding her that she is the one who raised my crazy mother.

Gma & Izy

It was in the nineties the whole time we were there. Beautiful and sunny.

LOVED IT!!

Isaac loved his stickers, even when TuTu (Hawaiian for Grandma, what Mom requested to be called) stuck them all over his tummy.

I guess I was just jealous at how easily Kaylie fell asleep, so I thought I would try it out...

We went to my Uncle's house for Independence Day. I got to see/meet some cousins I have not seen in years. I really do have an awesome extended family. They were so much fun.

My mom was in charge of the food. Let me tell ya.... she knows how to do food. There was sooooo much of it!! This is just one of the three counters/tables of food. It was awesome and delicious!

I love this picture. Bottom left: my cousin, Daniel. Top: family friend, Cathie's, granddaughter, Nicole. Bottom right: gorgeous cousin, Autumn. Middle: baby Kaylie.

Isaac loved playing on my grandma's piano. He was so good about it. He didn't pound on it, like a lot of kids would do. It was kind of weird.. he made it sound really pretty, actually.

He was super excited when he was shown the magic of a player piano. It was so much fun. We got to listen to listen to pretty, fun, older songs. My mom sang. Isaac and I danced. 

He loved dancing with TuTu!

Sara was amazing and drove up from San Diego to visit Sunday afternoon, while all the piano festivities were going on.

When my mom and I got back from Chino, we went to go pick up Finnegan. I always forget how huge he is. Plus, he is seriously a wild beast in the car. It was kind of ridiculous, hilarious, and scary all at once.

A friend of Mom's hooked us up with some killer SF Giants' tickets. We were in the fourth row behind 3rd base! It was so much fun.

Thanks for putting up with me for so long Mom!

New Niece!

After the loading of the truck, Kris and I headed to his home! It took forever! We don't know why the trip took us so long, but it did. Despite the time it took, it was still a lot of fun. I've always wanted to take a road trip with him!

I got to meet my niece for the first time! She was born April 28th. She is an incredible baby. I honestly only ever heard a bad cry once, during the whole time I was there! And it was only because we were trying to get her to take a bottle. She falls asleep super easily and does it a lot. When she is awake, she is very content and easily pleased. Oh yeah, and she's adorable. Kris, however, thinks that she looks like a demon in this picture. Nice.

Meet Kaylie Kristine.

Here's my buddy, Isaac! I swear, he gets more and more awesome every time I see him. He is hilarious. He is such a good 2 year old. He speaks very well. I love him to pieces!

Quick story: Isaac has always called me "Nenna." This past visit, however, he started calling me "Jenna-t," I have no clue where he got this. When I visited last Thanksgiving he would add a "T" to the end of "no," so maybe it's the same thing... pretty entertaining.

Thanks Kris and Leslie! I had a blast!

Oh Halle Babe

So, in my Hawaii post, when I mentioned that I had to steal all of my pictures from the Lemmes, this was a lie! I do have Hawaii pictures of my own. Allow me to share a few.

A good tool to entertain kids (or anyone for that matter):

Photobooth

Halle and I started it off, then Haven joined in.

Eventually, Asher wanted to know what all the hoopla was about, so he joined the fun.

Then, Haven got bored/sad (who knows)...

and left. Soon after Haven's departure, Asher decided he had better things to do.

Halle stayed strong...

... and very entertained...

... for quite a while actually.

Top Model on our hands?

214 pictures later...

Halle, you are awesome and I love you to death!

Thanks for entertaining yourself... and me!

I Heart Whidbey!

Seriously? I never want to take this for granted.

Keeping Tabs on Dad

I have been trying to convince my dad to get a blog since he got deployed, so all his friends and family can keep tabs on him. He finally consented to having me posting some of the emails that he sends to the fam. I also think it will be a nice memory blog/journal for him to look back on. I'm keeping it private, to protect him and the sensitive information. Let me know if you would like to be invited. I know he would appreciate it, and so would I. And hey... maybe in commemoration of Independance Day you can go through and read each and every single post!!