Another Birthday!

If you've followed my blog for a while, you'll know that birthdays in my family are a big deal. (It is also just about the only time I actually blog. I'm trying to be better.) This was what I woke up to my birthday morning.

Can you believe these flowers!?! D.D. spent nearly 5 hours on Mom's bed making these! I love love love them!

Everything was so bright and happy!

There were also fresh flowers! Gladiolas and gerbers are some of my very favs.

I opted for birthday cherry pie. My mom's pie took me back to my childhood. It was delicious and gorgeous! 

It was a fun weekend and I felt very special. I have the greatest family!

Happy Birthday Sister!

I have the World's Greatest Sister. No joke. I'm so lucky. And last weekend, while most people were celebrating the first day of Summer, we celebrated the day Desiree Dawn was born.

Truth be told, we try to extend the celebration as long as possible. Birthdays are a big deal in our family.

We planned on keeping the decorations low key, but then Mom remembered that she still had all my stuff we used for Grandma's 90th surprise party and she got to work.

We're getting really good with all this party decor. The only thing purchased was this AMAZING looking baby's breath. Have you ever seen it look so gorgeous?

I'm not the only person who thinks my sister is great! Her friend Matt, proprietor of La Maison Gray, created a soap in her honor.

 I FINALLY got around to finishing this necklace. Desiree had the initial inspiration for it (a couple of years ago), we just didn't know how to finish it off. Done. And she was surprised!

The weekend was filled with fun, food and family. What's a birthday without sparklers?

Homemade mint ice cream pie. To die for.

Happy Birthday D.D.! I love you!

Ione is 90!

A few weeks ago we threw a doozy of a surprise party for Grandma Wilde. She had no idea.

 

So much hard work and planning went into putting this party together. Aunt Cheryl and Aunt Julie spear headed the whole thing. They did a majority of the food. It was all so delicious!

  

Desiree and I offered to take care of the decorations. We have so many parties and events at Grandma's house that we wanted to take everything over the top for this.

 

 We had patio string lights, lanterns, garlands galore and BALLOONS!

But the biggest thing we did was build a photo booth! This was Desiree's baby. And Steele was kind enough to assist. We had it set up for everyone to use, but we also had an instant camera and collected the pics to put in a book for Grandma to keep.

But the biggest surprise of the night was when Aunt LaVerl walked in. No one knew she was coming. So many friends and family traveled from out of state. I think at one point we had over 100 people packed into her house. It was literally overflowing with love.

The lighting is kind of tricky at Grandma's house. Most of the photos were edited in black and white. Check out the album. It felt like all we did was take photos and we still didn't capture everything we wanted.

 16 of 24 grandkids.

Too many great-grandkids to count.

So much hard work and LOVE went into this party. It was so worth it. Grandma deserves all this and so much more. It's hard to put into words how incredible she is. She has the greatest life stories and she remembers the most interesting details. She has the biggest heart. What other 90 year old gets up and goes to the gym 5 days a week? Or is on Facebook!?! 90 years young.

She is such a huge part of my life. She has been there for every major life event. I'm grateful to have her in my life and feel her undying love. I love you Grandma!

Happy Birthday!

Bicycle Birthday

 

For Steele's birthday this year we decided to let his love of cycling inspire the theme of the party. Since we all love cycling too, it wasn't a bad choice!

 

All the major jersey colors represented---I cut out nearly 500!!! The rainbow ribbon isn't exactly accurate, but close enough.

 

The jerseys were strung together to make garlands. It's hard to tell by the photo how fantastic they turned out.

 

I made paper medallions.

 

And stuck them on the treat boxes containing dark chocolate peanut butter cups, black and white circus animal cookies, wafer cookies, and striped fudge cookies.

 

For my birthday Mom found some REALLY good cupcakes that even Steele ate. He usually isn't a sweet tooth. D.D. ordered these adorable cupcake toppers, but when Mom went to get the cupcakes they didn't have the same flavors. Don't worry, we had PLENTY of sugar!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUTTONS!

We love you!

And come next July we'll be all set to decorate for the Tour de France!

 

Day of: The Mark Wilde Invitational Golf Tournament

 

April 22, 2013. We decided to celebrate Dad's birthday doing something he loved---golfing. None of us girls golf, yet. It was a great day.

 I should start off by saying that this event would never have been possible without Mark Walker. He is a lifelong friend and an expert at organizing tournaments. We had 48 golfers---a better turnout than we initially anticipated! So many friends and family attended. The money raised goes to support hospice. 

 

Mom and D.D. at the check-in table.

 

Uncle Monty also helped with the planning, and used his connections to get Steele Canyon to host the tournament.

 

Here's all the guys and carts waiting to get started. 

 

D.D. and I were one part of the photography team. We took HUNDREDS of pictures. Here, D.D. is using Dad's old camera. It's over 40 years old and still takes AMAZING pictures. We had so much fun racing around in our own golf cart!

 

The course is tucked into the hills of East County.

 

The weather was perfectly nice, but a titch windy.

 

Steele teeing off on the first hole.

 We had trophies for each member of the top two foursomes. These were REALLY cool plaques!

 

This ADORABLE munchkin is Mitch. His dad, Russ, is in the background. Mitch is 3. He has his own set of mini clubs. He's quite a good golfer, for a 3 year old. They drove over from Las Vegas for the day. Thank you!

 

Another pic of my cute brother!

 

Uncle Monty and Steele

 

We had an auction in the clubhouse after the tournament where we raised even more money for hospice. We also gave away The Mark Wilde Character Award. This year, being the first year, we had two recipients. Uncle Monty, Dad's brother, and Steele. These two men exemplify Dad's sportsmanship, goodness, kindness and sense of rightness. We plan on giving this award next year as well. Steele gave a brief tribute to Dad. This was the most emotional part of the day. It meant so much to have so many people who loved Dad be a part of this special day.

 

We want to say a giant THANK YOU to everyone who golfed with us or donated. It was an amazing way to honor and remember Dad. We're looking forward to next year!

Mark Wilde Invitational Golf Tournament

We are celebrating Dad's birthday this year with the 1st annual Mark Wilde Invitational Golf Tournament. Dad loved to golf. And we gained such a great appreciation for hospice that we are raising money for this non-profit organization. If you cannot attend the event we appreciate any and all donations, no matter how small.

Came across this article that explains what hospice is, and how helpful and comforting it can be. Most people are scared of the word HOSPICE, but it provided the best imaginable circumstances for Dad's passing.

This is only the beginning. We hope to include the Blood Bank at some future date. And also have a 5K/10K walk and or cycling event.

Thank you!