gratitude :: november 22

birthdays and babies: i am a sucker for a good party. i love celebrations and traditions. and i love that our lives are FULL of them.  sometimes 2 or 3 in one weekend. yes, it's a lot of work but so worth it.  this weekend we had 3 celebrations.


the first was the birthday of our sweet friend rachel who turned 6. she is part of a family that is very similar to ours.  3 kids all the same age as our kids. they love the same things. they get along swimmingly. and their parents are really fun to be around.  to celebrate rachel's birthday they had bunnies to pet and a magician to entertain.  a perfectly wonderful kids' party.

for my sis-in-law's 40th (oops was i supposed to say that?) she threw an 80's birthday party.  i was skeptical at first.  the 80's weren't the best of times for me and i wasn't sure i wanted to relive that.  but i went.  i found the jacket, complete with shoulder pads, in my mom's closet (oops, was i supposed to say that) and it was perfect.  the hair and makeup were easy, and i added the earrings, the bracelet, and a pair of jordan's high tops. i felt a little silly driving over there, but it really was a fun party.  the music brought me back. songs i would tape, yes on a cassette tape, and listen to over and over while i thought of alfredo, or hector or whoever i was interested in at the moment. i especially loved when they started playing spanish music because that is really what i listened to, menudo anyone?  luis miguel and my favorite, flans.  oh it brought me back.  i danced a little with the girls and my nephew who is quite the dancer.  it wasn't so traumatizing after all.

sunday sofia, mackenzie and i drove to irvine to shower sarah, steve and baby boden who drove in from colorado.  the theme of the shower was books.  perfect for this family that loves to read.

every guest brought a book to add to boden's library.

the food was our favorites, pesto pasta salad, chinese chicken salad, bruschetta, shrimp cocktail.  and for dessert chocolate cupcakes with book toppers.

the games were fun.  name the book title based on a line from the book, a baby relay race, and the cute game, where you can't say the word "cute".  and that is hard to do at a baby shower.

Sarah rapidly reading brown bear to her baby.

and the gifts were adorable.  i thought i had taken a lot more pictures but i realized that i took them with other peoples' cameras.  so i am hoping they will share.

and we got to see grady.

made it home in time for dinner and then i fell asleep on the couch after a party filled weekend.