Friend's Bridal Shower Day

My best friend, Sara, is getting married in 2 short weeks and I couldn't be more excited! Last July, she and Wayne returned from their vacation in Canada and he had put a ring on it. My apologies for getting Single Ladies stuck in your heads.

Some of Sara's good friends from her former workplace wanted to throw a bridal shower/bachelorette party for her. These two ladies did a great job of organizing the perfect evening to celebrate Sara and her upcoming wedding.

When this invitation arrived in the mail, I put this special occasion on my calendar right away! The part I forgot was to RSVP by the date on the invite. I was ready to crash the party, but Brandi said there was room for me. No crashing necessary. Whew!

Our departure time was set for 1:00 pm. Sara and her sisters needed to stop by the jeweler making her wedding band prior to the shower. With a Yukon full of women, we headed out for one of the most fun nights I've had in a long time.

Sara had learned of Sherri, a jeweler in Tigard, from someone she used to work with. She and Wayne decided to have Sherri create Sara's wedding band using diamonds from Sara's mom's rings. Sara's mom passed away unexpectedly years ago and this is one way Sara keeps her memory alive daily.

Lyn and Cathy, Sara's sisters, also had some jewelry made from their mom's rings. All 3 of them had earrings made from the diamonds in one of Jodi's rings. It was such a special moment to be there when they put on their new earrings for the first time.

Lyn, Cathy, and Sara see their earrings for the first time.

Sister, is that you in the mirror?

Lyn chose a dangle style for her earrings. They are beautiful and delicate. Perfection!

Cahty's emotions overflowed when she put on her mom's diamonds. Such love in her heart. She and Sara chose to have their earrings be studs.

Sara and Lyn were having fun trying to figure out the best pose for a picture of their earrings. 

Mary, Alexa and I had fun watching the sisters get their earrings and we were all eager to see Sara's new wedding band!

 Sherri unwrapped it and handed it to Sara as we all patiently waited to see it, too!

Sara slipped it on her finger and it was a perfect fit! With their beautiful new jewels in tow, we bid Sherri good-bye and headed over to The Loaded Brush...at 2:56 pm. The shower was supposed to start at 3:00 pm and it was a 22 minute drive. Drive, Sara, Drive!!

The Loaded Brush was great! We had a blast. Right after arriving, we all donned our smocks. Sara chose this schnazzy little number.

 Aaron, at least I think that was his name, I wasn't being a very attentive student, was our instructor. He was a riot! Our project was called "Poppies." Aaron made rounds often and gave pointers or encouragement, whichever you needed at the time. 

Aaron checking in with Cathy and Lyn.

 I looked over at one point and Cathy was double-brushing it. I loved it and had to capture her artistic moment! Do you see that picture over Cathy's left shoulder? The yellow flowers with the purple background? That was my inspiration for my painting. I loved the abstract poppies and unlikely sky color. In the end, my painting looked like this...

Sometimes, I just can't follow the rules. ;) (The background is a vibrant purple. #badphoto)



Next up was dinner at Laurelwood Public House. However, the wait to get a table for 20 people was about an hour so we ventured across the street to Kay's for a pre-dinner drink. I ordered the Lavendar Lemonade. It was delicious!

Sara was sporting all the appropriate bridal shower gear and we had fun walking around with her. A lot of people congratulated her and wished her a fun evening. 

Dinner took a long time, but it was delicious and worth the wait. Who can blame the server or restaurant when your dinner party looks like this?

After dinner, the Yukon girls headed back to Vancouver to meet up with the boys who were out celebrating with Wayne. On our drive, Sara keep telling everyone we passed, "I'm getting married!" A few people actually responded to her. One cute couple congratulated her and said they had done the same thing just 2 years earlier and it was the best thing. That happy wife was sporting a cute little baby bump. #Lovewasintheair

Our last stop was at the 4th Plain Tavern. Most of us had not been there before, but it was a great little neighborhood spot. It was clean, well lit and had great games like pool, arcade games and my favorite, darts. Meeting up with all of our guys was a highlight of the night. I even got to capture Wayne's gangsta alter ego. 

It was such a fun way to celebrate two amazing people. Sara and Wayne, we wish you endless happiness for years and years to come! Love ya!

Kylin Gets Her License!

Sometimes I look at my girls and I cannot believe the grown up young ladies looking back at me are my kids. It feels like just yesterday this was how they looked.

Time passes much faster than you realize.

Kylin took driver's ed last November and December. Then, she had to wait for 6 months before she could take her driver's license test, per Washington state law. Her big day was May 27th. She even had a count down going on the whiteboard in her room. Imagine our surprise when May 27th came and went and she didn't ask to take the test yet. There was a mention here or there, but we wanted her to take the initiative to figure out what exactly she needed to do, how much it would cost, and to schedule her appointment.

One day, she finally asked me to clarify what we wanted her to do. Turns out, part of what was holding her back was making phone calls to ask questions. (Could this be due to texting culture of today?) Her preference was to go ask in person. So, on our way to get ice cream for Alora's birthday, we stopped by Big John's so she could ask her questions. She came out with an appointment for June 27th to take her driver's test.

Then next day was filled with studying and practicing. She is a very conscious driver but felt so nervous about making mistakes, especially with parallel parking. Tom set up the garbage can and recycling bins on the street right outside the house so she could practice and practice and practice some more. Let's just say, there were some tears of frustration and lot s of hugs and words of encouragement.  She just wanted to be perfect and to parallel park perfectly. It is one of the hardest parts of driving, but in the end she did it beautifully.

Friday arrived. It was the BIG day! Tom took her out to double-check everything on the car was working properly and they had all the right paperwork, then it was off to take the test. She text me not too long after leaving and said she passed the written test. About 20 minutes after that, Tom text me this picture...

She was doing all of the pre-test checks with the evaluator.

A little bit later, Kylin text me that she passed with a 92 and was at the D.O.L. waiting to get her license.

I am so proud of her and the skills she is gaining to navigate the world. Love you too the moon and back, Baby Girl!

Alora Turns 13!

Alora cracks me up! About a month before her birthday, she started making plans of what she wanted to do for her 13th birthday.

There was the day she wanted to take a group of girls to Naydenov, a local gymnastics establishment, to jump and tumble around the equipment. I think she mostly wanted to jump into the foam pit, but that's just a guess.

Then, there were they days she wanted to go to G6, a trampoline "park" to, again, jump her little heart out with friends.

Are you picking up on a theme yet?

There's a reason she earned the little nickname "Jumping Bean" for a bit as a wee little girl.

She went through several other ideas before she finally settled on family dinner at her new favorite restaurant, Kindee Thai, and then a sleep over with her closest friends at our house a few days later.

Her birthday arrived and we had a great family day. We had a relaxing morning and around 1:00 ventured out to Cold Stone Creamery. One of my families from school gave me some gift certificates and the sweetest sentiment of appreciation and a wish of good family time for us as a gift on the last day of school. Alora's birthday was the perfect occasion to use the gift cards for!

Alora decided on the BIGGEST scoop of cotton candy ice cream with gummy bears mixed in. It was the bluest thing in the place, so of course she had to have it. ;)  Kylin had their cake batter batter batter ice cream. Again, the biggest scoop around and she too, ate every bite.

Believe it or not, I did not order the biggest scoop possible but you can't tell that from the picture, can you? I went with their birthday cake remix, after all it was a birthday! Sadly, it was SO rich, I only ate about 10 bites then I was out. My consuming-sugar-in-masses days might be behind me.

Tom was the smart one who went with a pineapple-blueberry smoothie. I kept telling him to remind me that I want a smoothie next time, too. I know I can actually eat a whole smoothie. 

I managed to get a picture of my girls in all their loveliness. They are at the ages where they see a camera and disappear quicker than a raindrop on an open flame. I love these girls more than anything in this world. It is so hard to believe they are now 16 and 13. People always told me time would go quickly and I only half believed them. Now, I know what they meant. I now think in terms of how many summers we have left with them at home...captive. Just kidding...kind of.

That evening, we meet up with Grams, Gramps, Amma, Ampa, Uncle and Cousin at Kindee Thai for Alora's long awaited birthday dinner. I have to tell you, this restaurant is THE BEST!

We walked in the door at 7:00 pm with a group of 10 people. We were seated in less than 2 minutes, and they had to move tables for us. Our server was great. She was fine splitting the check 4 ways and kept it all straight! I think she was new to the job, too, but she did beautifully.

The restaurant was busy because it was still the dinner rush time. Our orders were taking awhile, but we expected that with 10 people in tow. We passed the time getting caught up on what everyone has been up to. Alora and cousin LOVE to spend time together and they were busy getting caught up on all things Minecraft on cousin's phone. It is so interesting to see their play go from actual toys, noises, and movement to the more "sophisticated", okay, teenager-esque play of electronics and video games. No longer do we have to take bags of quiet things to keep them entertained. End. of. an. era.

We were surprised with some complimentary appetizers from the chef because it was taking so long for our food to be ready. Best. Restaurant. Ever! Their pot stickers were so delicious...and Kylin's favorite! Our food came out shortly after and the table quieted as we thoroughly enjoyed the deliciousness on a plate.

Shortly after eating, we all sang happy birthday to Alora. She loved it but said she was really embarrassed. I guess the new shade of red we saw on her face means it's true. All of a sudden, the Kindee Thai staff turn off all of the lights in the restaurant, and present her with a succulent chocolate mousse with strawberry puree dessert; complete with a candle on top.

It was a great day of celebrating Alora. She is a beautiful person and I am so lucky to have her in my life. Your dad and I hope you felt loved and honored on your special day! Happy birthday, Little Miss!