Hailey's Critters

At school, Hailey has a project due that involves some type of board game pieces.  This girl is a total out of the box type of thinker.  She made these little critters out of scrap material we had around the house and stuffed them with cotton balls.  Cute, huh?  Last year she did amazing work with rice krispie treats and fondant.  She made the great wall of China, an amazing Chinese dragon and a few other things.  She is so creative! 

What an Honor!

I was asked about a month ago to help decorate and serve a luncheon for some very important guests.  We had Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve come as well as a member of the 70, the area president, the temple president, the mission president and 15 stake presidents and their wives come!  What an honor to be able to serve them!  Elder Andersen was so incredibly gracious and took the time to come in to the kitchen and shake everyone's hands.  Then he brought everyone in and had us stand in the middle of the room and gave us all a round of applause.  He then took the time to write a thank you letter.  How AWESOME is that?!!  What a wonderful experience to be able to shake his hand.  I know this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for  me so I really cherished the experience!  Erik also got to shake his hand as he was on the clean up committee.  :o)  Elder Andersen gave us 5 stars!  Cute, huh?!!  I LOVE the eggplant purple color!  I wish someone would do a wedding in that color soon!  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!!  BTW, Elder Andersen sat right there on the end on the right hand side.

Chalkboard

Yesterday I went to "GW" (aka Goodwill) and bought this picture for really cheap.  I actually just liked the frame so that is why I bought it.  I then took it home and taped up the frame, and spray painted chalkboard paint right directly on the glass.  I painted four coats on there so it wouldn't come off.  I then took some black ribbon and just fastened it to the top of the frame.  It actually isn't hanging on the ribbon, just looks like it.  I then hung it right next to the phone so maybe now I can start getting messages when people call me!  Hmmm......do you think writing with chalk will help them remember?  Let's hope so!  I thought it turned out pretty cute!

Batter Up!

Hailey has decided to play softball with her school team this year.  She wasn't very confident because she had never played before, but she soon found out that nobody on her team had ever played before either so she fit right in!  They won their first game on Monday and when the time came to shake hands with the opposing team, you could not wipe the smile off her face.  She was grinning from ear to ear.  She was having so much fun and I'm so glad she reached out of her comfort zone and tried something she never had done before. Way to go Hailey!!

The Rehearsal Dinner!

So on Saturday we decorated and catered for a rehearsal dinner for some of our good friends in the ward.  It was a small dinner for us, only 20 people were invited, but it sure was a lot of fun!  They wanted a black and white theme, with an Italian menu.  We had Cajun shrimp linguine, lasagna, chicken bow tie pasta with mushrooms, Caesar salad, rolls, fresh fruit, cheese cake with either cherry or blueberry topping, and also chocolate cake with chocolate drizzle and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Yum!!  It's always fun seeing the bride and groom's faces after we decorate for them.  They are an adorable couple and I'm so happy for them! The pictures never look as good as they do in real life - the twinkle lights and lighting totally make it, but of course that doesn't show up very well.  The family was very happy with how it all turned out.

It's Your "Purse"onal Day!

Last Saturday we had a "purse" party...your "purse"onal day for the stake achievement day girls.  We had quite a large turnout.  We filled all of the tables and we set up 23 tables!  Each of the tables were set up with a lamp, purse and jar filled with cute quotes.  The girls were so cute.  One little girl said as she walked in, "Oh this looks GLORIOUS!"  The other said, "I feel just like a princess!  I never want to go home!"  How sweet is that?!  These girls are 8-11 year old and had so much fun, especially since they saw the gym decorated.  It's fun spoiling them and making them feel special!  The entire room was pink, yellow and white everywhere.  For dessert we had adorable cupcakes that we had made and Karen Lee's daughter-in-law decorated.  We put them on brightly colored boxes, along with other items.  What a F-U-N day it was!!