Monday, February 25, 2013

Baby Cheri came to play in Granite Bay

On their way back from Arizona to Utah, Kimber, Brett and baby Cheri stopped by for a visit to California. 
 It was a quick visit but we squeezed in a lot in one day and I had so much fun showing Cheri the town... 
or should I say showing off Cheri to all of our Granite Bay town friends!
First stop was a fun luncheon with a group of my dear friends, 
then a visit to Grandpa's orthodontic office to meet the staff 
and then some of our good friends and family dropped by all night to meet baby Cheri.
The last visitors left around 10 pm that night.  It was a busy but very fun day!
Baby Cheri was a doll, being passed around all day and night, never complaining!
 I had a blast with Cheri but I can't wait until she's a little older and can swing on the swingset,
 slide down the yellow slide, jump on the trampoline, and swim in the pool!
Now that we have a grandchild, I'm sure that we aren't going to be downsizing anytime soon.
It will be wonderful to have a little one playing in the backyard again soon:)!
Grandma is ready to show baby Cheri around the town.
Lunch at Crush 29 with Cheri's other Granite Bay Moms... or should I say Grandmas and Aunties:)!
Sweet Liz, meeting baby Cheri again!  Remember the picture below?
While they were on vacation in New York City, Liz, Mark and Carly were so thoughful, 
 and stopped by to meet Cheri the day after she was born
and dropped off the best pecan pie ever for Brett and Kimber to enjoy!
We are so lucky to have such incredible friends like the Skinners!
Karen has been there for me from the very beginning!
She has been so excited for Kimber and since she is already a grandma,
she has given me such valuable advice!  
It has been wonderful to have someone like her, cheering me along the way.
Karen's daughter-in-law just delivered their first granddaughter, exactly 3 months after Cheri was born.
It was so fun to be going through all of this together with Karen!
Paige and I first met when we dropped our kids off at preschool when I was just barely pregnant with Brooke.
We both had four little ones at the time and quickly bonded because we had so much in common.
One day, we were commiserating about how people sometimes say the rudest things
 about having such a large family and think that we must be nuts 
when we tell them that we chose to have this many kids.
Then she asked me if we were going to have anymore kids...
 I knew that I was pregnant but hadn't told anyone yet, 
so I sheepishly answered "yes, we might have one more."
And with that, she said, "Ohhhhh!  You are crazy!!"  Ha! Ha!
Well, Brooke was born later that year, and Mark and I were
right in the middle of chairing the ESF Dinner and Auction 
and Paige's husband, Eric, who LOVES babies was ESF President.
We worked very closely together and at every single meeting,
 I would bring my brand new little baby Brooke, 
and Eric would scoop her up in his arms and hold her the entire time.
The image of Eric standing up in front of everyone, 
cuddling my little Brooke while conducting every meeting
is something that I'll never forget and always cherish!
So here we are 20 years later, and to watch my dear friend, Paige, scoop up my granddaughter, Cheri 
and love her just the way she and Eric loved my baby Brooke so many years ago was so touching!
Pam is also a grandma, who has shared great advice!
She has the cutest little granddaughters and I just hope that someday
 I can become the kind of grandma that Pam is.
And Donna, sweet Donna, here with baby Cheri!  So fun!
Donna and I are such dear friends from our Auction days,
and Donna' son, JJ and Kimber have been good friends since 4th grade,
and her daughter, Jessie and Kimber were on the Granite Bay Gazette staff together.
Our families have been such great friends over the years
so it was really fun for Kimber to visit and introduce baby Cheri to Donna.
Sue and Carolyn, admiring little Cheri!
Sue, who was our neighbor when we lived in Weddington, 
first met Kimber when she knocked on her door,
 gathering information for the Weddington newsletter and directory.
I can't believe that was almost 18 years ago!
It's been fun visiting with Sue and Carolyn on our bike rides each week.
They always were so interested in Kimber and would want the update on her pregnancy.
I'm lucky to have such wonderful friends!
And Jennifer... she is so cute and started crying when she saw Cheri.
Gosh!  Could I ask for sweeter friends, who are so excited about celebrating with me!?
There was so much love in that room that day... both for baby Cheri and Kimber!
I love this photo because it really depicts the love and friendship 
that was shared that day by some of my favorite Granite Bay Mommas,
who have loved and supported me and my children throughout the years. 
And now they are loving and doting on my darling little granddaughter!
I feel so blessed to have such a fabulous group of ladies that I can call my dear friends!
Then it was off to Grandpa's orthodontic office to say "hi!" to all the staff!
As you can see, baby Cheri is pretty excited to see Grandpa!
And she was a very good patient during her first orthodontic appointment!
The front office staff are loving her just as much as the gals in back:)!
My cute little next door neighbor was at her appointment and took a turn holding Cheri!
Baby Cheri got to ring the bell!
Grandpa gave her a bright pink toothpaste, which is her new favorite toy!
Grandpa saying "goodbye" to baby Cheri!
A very successful orthodontic check up and just like her mom, 
baby Cheri can't wait to have Grandpa put on her braces!
But first she's got to get some teeth:)!
I wish I had taken a photo of all our kind friends, who stopped by that evening!
Debbie Penrice, Katie and Abby Segale, The McLeod family, Stacy and Scott McFarland, Doug and Julee Rawlins,
Michelle and Josh Randolph, Jina Anello, Uncle Bruce and Aunt Natalie, Lori and Eric Clement, 
Trici Jones, Julie and Emily Hansen, Lorna and Emily Schofield,
I do appreciate all of our dear friends, who took the time to visit Kimber and sweet little baby Cheri!

Monday, February 18, 2013

Showering Kelsey with Love!

We started planning Kelsey's bridal shower almost immediately as soon as we heard that she got engaged!
Jenn, Karen and I were on a bike ride when we got a call from Liz sharing the good news 
that Brian Merritt had proposed to Kelsey in front of the castle at Disneyland!
Right away Carolyn Johnson, Karen Duffey, Jenn Files, Beth Bryant, Karen Giddings and myself started planning.  
What a great team and what fun we had together!
Our shower planning meetings consisted of pouring over DIY blogs,
searching for ideas and inspiration on Pinterest and taste testing recipes.  So much fun!
With the shower date ending up the weekend before Valentine's day, 
we wanted to incorporate the colors red and pink, and love, of course, with the Disney theme
 and somehow make it classy and cute!  We came up with the theme, "the Magic of Love" 
and recruited my clever and crafty friend, Debbie Penrice, (what would I do without her?) 
who took all our ideas and created the most beautiful invitation ever!
We also asked everyone to wrap their gift in hearts and red,
which turned out so fun!  People were so clever and fun and the gifts were adorable!
Here are the hostesses and the set up before the party begun.
We had the shower at Carolyn's beautiful home!
Here is the front door decoration that Karen made!  Gorgeous!
I was in charge of the polka-dot balloons... which I loved! 
 The balloons tied in the Disney theme in a classy way!  So cute!
I knew that I would need help blowing up all the balloons so as soon as I got to Carolyn's house that morning, 
I immediately grabbed Heather Johnson and Jessie Files and using skills from their student government days,
 they had the balloons blown up and arranged in no time!  Thanks girls!!
Doesn't Heather look darling in her red dress holding the bouquet of balloons?! Fabulous!
The view as you enter Carolyn's home!
The table where the bridesmaids were seated!
The dining room table where the bride-to-be and family were seated... and a few close friends.
The center island in the kitchen, where we served the food.
I love the Mickey and Minnie bride and groom ears!
Displayed on the island are a couple of the cds that we burned with all our favorite Disney love songs.
We had the music playing in the background and everyone got to take home a Disney love song cd as a party favor.
I love the picture of Kelsey and Brian right at Disneyland, right after they got engaged!
Three of Kelsey's bridesmaids, Heather Bryant, Heather Johnson and Lauren Giddings.
They were so much help that day, along with Jessica, setting up for the shower and cleaning up afterwards.
We couldn't have done it without all of them!  You girls are the best!
Beth made this salad and it was amazing!  Tasted as good as it looks!  Yum!
The shower hostesses, Karen Giddings, me, Jenn Files, Karen Duffey, Carolyn Johnson and Beth Bryant.
Some of the adorable presents wrapped in red and hearts.
The packages looked so festive and cute together with all the decorations!
The hostesses table.  What a fun group of ladies!
The planning committee with Kelsey, the bride-to-be and her darling mother and our dear friend, Liz!
It was a wonderful day with wonderful friends, celebrating and honoring Kelsey!
We are so excited for her and her upcoming wedding!  Congratulations, Kelsey!  Your Granite Bay moms love you!