Adriana's Bridal Shower

I am SO excited and happy for my older sister Adriana! She is getting married in May to Raul!

Adriana & Raul

As one of her bridesmaids (and favorite sister), I organized her bridal shower! We had several plot twists starting from the beginning of planning, which I started in November, til the end, when everyone was cleaning up. But it turned out great and it was a beautiful day! Most importantly, Adriana absolutely enjoyed it! 

(With the bride-to-be Adriana, sister Christine and best friend Elizabeth)

Since this was a rather significant party with an extensive guest list (we do BIG parties because we have A LOT of relatives + church family), Christine and Claudia, our cousin, worked together with me. The mothers made the meal and guests brought side dishes and desserts. My cousin Jessica made a beautiful cake! 

(Tables, centerpieces and place settings with party favors: blue & pink swirl lollipops with "I Do" tag) 

Claudia was in charge of the centerpieces for the tables. She painted mason jars gold, and some with pink, and made flowers out of coffee filters. She dyed the coffee filters in water with food coloring, let them air dry til damp, then finished drying them in the dryer. The mason jars were hot glued to small candlestick holders (also painted gold) for added height. 
Also on the tables there were hymnals tied with lace, a last minute addition by Claudia. I added tea lights and small wooden embellishments. 

(Hymnals with lace, birdcage, hanging decor, coffe filter flowers & gold mason jars with accents)

The two tables nearest the bride-to-be's table were decorated with birdcages instead of mason jars. (Adriana really likes the bird/garden theme!) 

Each table was set with a blue dinner plate, a flowered dessert plate, a game card, ring necklace (for a game), silverware, cup and a lollipop/candy stick favor. I had the most amazing crew help me set the tables: Joy, Eva, Elijah, and JJ (my younger siblings and cousins). 

(Wonderful table of desserts and Jessica's beautiful cake!)

The center table, where Adriana and the mothers sat, also had flowery tags I made for them to wear. They said "Bride", "Mather of the Bride", and "Mother of the Groom". 

(Brides Table with centerpieces and place setting) 

Claudia also provided two gold frames for the background of the guest table, one with ribbons and lace tied to it. 

(Gift & Games table with decor and card luggage box) 

One of the problems for me during the shower was my baby Ben got sick and threw up all over the front of my dress! Luckily it didn't show but I smelled like feta cheese for the rest of the day. 😕 My best friend, Elizabeth, helped clean up after Ben while I took care of him and tried to clean myself off. 

(A few random pics from the day) 

After this drama, I had to lead the games. We played Guess Who: Bride or Groom, bridal shower scattergories, and a ring-necklace game in which you can't say "bride" or "wedding". The Guess Who game was easily the most popular an the scattergories took longer than planned.

(I'll try to figure out how to attach a PDF of the games to this blog post.)

Finally the bride thanked all the guests and opened her gifts. It was a beautiful shower and I am so excited for Adriana! I can't wait to go back to California for the wedding! 

Special Thanks to Christine, Adrian & Rodica, Marioara, Claudia, Jessica, Elizabeth, Emmanuela, Simona, Yasmine, Joy, Eva, Elijah, JJ, and all the other ladies & girls who helped! Also, thanks to Raul for carrying all the heavy boxes!

Ben's Birthday Bash!

My baby is turning 1!!!! It's hard, and crazy, to believe I've been a mom of the most adorable boy for a year!! 

To those who don't know the events surrounding Ben's early birth, this picture pretty much sums it up! 

Back at the end of 2012, when we found out I was expecting Ben, Jon started looking for a job so I could stay home with the baby. He found an associate pastor position in Kenai, Alaska. We went up to visit and candidate at the church during my spring break from school. We flew in Saturday, Jon preached Sunday, my water broke Monday, and Ben was born Tuesday, April 16! (One month before his due date!) Praise God, Ben was healthy and strong! He weighed 4 lbs 8 oz. 

We flew back to Colorado when Ben was 9 days old. 

Two months later, we moved to Alaska. The church we candidated at, Calvary Baptist Church, became family the week Ben was born. So many brothers and sisters in Christ came around us, supporting us. When Ben was born, I had Nothing for him! But everyone provided us with clothes, diapers, blankets, everything we needed for Ben! We were even blessed to have a couple from the church, Nathan & Monica, fly down to CO and drive our Uhaul up. (They are our now some of our best friends, our adopted family!) 

Being the first year of Ben's life, he's already had so many adventures! One month living in CO and meeting all my wonderful students, trips to California to see relatives, and living in Alaska! 

Since we are in California for two weeks, we decided to celebrate Ben's birthday early (cause he likes early!) and because we want to celebrate it with family. I got to throw a Mustache Bash for my Little Man! 

Thank you to Mark & Jera for preparing burgers for lunch! We also had chips & dip, baked beans, and a yummy shrimp/spaghetti salad. 

It was fun eating lunch with family and friends and hanging out. Then we sang Happy Birthday to Ben and gave him his birthday cake! 

He loved stuffing his face with his chocolate Nutella mustache cake! For the frosting, I wanted something that wasn't too sweet, since this would be Ben's first BIG sugar splurge. I mixed cool whip and Nutella and placed blue sprinkles along the side for some color. 

It was so funny when he tried to eat it because he just stuck his face in it and took bites! He got frosting ALL over his face! But he absolutely LOVED it! 

After Ben gobbled down his cake, my mom washed him clean and changed his outfit while I opened up the dessert table. 

I placed pictures of Ben from his first year, one for every month, along the picture frame. It was neat seeing how he's grown! 

For the dessert table, I bought blueberry chocolate covered pretzels and blueberry jelly beans, made sugar cookies with chocolate mustaches, and chocolate Nutella mini cakes. (There's no such thing as too much chocolate!)

And of course, we had chocolate Nutella cupcakes topped with chocolate mustaches. 

After dessert, the kids (and some adults) played Pin the Mustache on Ben! 

The kids loved it so much, they played several times! I think, for some of them, their favorite part was getting spin around! 

Ben had fun with his presents, especially the big yellow ball from the Shippy's that all the kids loved! Ben also received lots of new clothes, superhero plastic people, a rocking horse, toy cars, and lots of other toys! 

Before everyone left, we took some family pictures! I want to print out and frame these pictures as late birthday gifts for My mom, Jon's mom, and Jon's grandma (all March bdays!). 

And, finally, a few pictures from his birthday photo shoot! Happy Birthday Benny boy!!

...and a few cute pictures I just wanted to share, including a family photo!