The big project

So Friday night was Teri's 50th birthday party...she looked so cute and party-ready!Here she is with her lovely husband Jim who threw this bash for her...
Jim went all out and we helped get it all out and ready for the guests...I was afraid that Teri would not open her gifts at the party and I wouldn't be able to see her expression when she saw the project I have been working on for her. But she did! And she loved the book...here is a little video so you can see it too. It has journaling prompts about her memories and thoughts. Such as "what is your earliest childhood memory" and "what was it like to become a mom."


Here is the smile I got after she opened her gift-she liked it!
and some of my favorite pages...Journaling prompts read-
Did your family move often and if so where and what time periods?
Do you remember the room in which you slept as a child?
Who were your friends when you were growing up?
Do you remember any fads from your youth? Popular hairstyles? Clothes?What were some of the best presents you ever received when you were a kid?
Where did you go on vacations when you were young?Did you have an after-school or summer job,what did you do? What did you like about it? Dislike about it? How much did you earn? What did you do with your first paycheck?
How did you meet Jim and what was your first date like?

And just for the fun of it...the Brave Girls!

Hope you had fun Teri and thanks for letting me share!

I've been hard at work on a secret project for a very special friend. I have known her for over 30 years. Our lives have intertwined through that time and currently I get to see her every week for our Brave Girl sessions. She has just had her 50th birthday and a big bash is planned for Friday night...can't wait! Have you figured out who it is yet??

It's my friend Teri...Watch this blog for a photo or two from the party...

While looking for Teri's photo I stumbled across some random images Gary has taken for me because I asked him to. He's nice that way!

These geese were so cute with the babies waddling behind-
This house-too weird...
Have you ever heard Gary talk about how I always seem to find the best parking spots? Well a week or so ago we went up to Multnomah Falls and Gary was trying to direct me to this spot way down at the end and I said just let me look...do you see that I got the very FIRST spot!!
Gary was doing test shots and I was brushing Daisy so an impromptu shot-
That's it for now...

One year-24 days

Remember these faces from last year?...
Well it has been a year! Actually a bit over but I have been negligent on blogging so I am just now posting images. Here they are on their anniversary-

oh and there are the mustaches again-

Papa Hayden's made their wedding cake and if you remember to call-will make an anniversary cake just like the top layer of the wedding cake. So glad they remembered-

They were kind enough to share some of their cake with us too.

Congrats to you two-hope your year is full of fun adventures!

This week-

Well if you count from Friday to Friday...because this photo of my dear friend Teri was taken last Friday! I forgot to ask if I could post it but I assume she knows every photo I take is fair game to go on my blog....

I took this after our Brave girl meeting. We have been having our get togethers in her cozy new living room. And she always has yummy treats that are mostly good for us. She always dresses so fashionably-I take notes!
I had a fun little excursion yesterday. Lovely June was not able to join us at my pj birthday party, so she promised me that she would take me out for a treat. Well I got two- one was spending time with her and the other was some yummy ice cream. We met up at the Ice Cream Renaissance in downtown Vancouver.
Oh me- oh my! Was it ever a wonderful thing!!

This is June with her little plate of samplers and a cookie. She got a latte too and said the coffee was really good.
Me-I never go out for ice cream so I went with the Peanut butter ice cream on a brownie. Oh and a scoop of coffee ice cream so we could try it. I did ask for a tiny scoop like June had but I guess the lady didn't understand me. Oh and the whipped cream just made it look like so much more. It took awhile to eat what with all the gabbing!
Go there...it is a must!

Spent today in the craft cottage and then did some watching of Brave Girl videos. I am loving this class too. It will give me skills to use for some time.

Thanks for popping in...see ya.

June is fun too!

Hey did you see the mini loaf van at Burgerville Salmon Creek last weekend? We have been waiting for it to make it's way here.They cut down regular size vans to make these-I think they made 4 and have been making their way across the U.S. In June we celebrate the birth of Mrs. Gabriele. I made these layered streamers in her honor.
Her cake was white with chocolate chips and fresh strawberry frosting.
Dinner was Lemon chicken risotto...
Then we celebrated Father's day last week. Everyone came even our friend Vicki who rents from my dad. Kinda handy when you want a family shot...even a raccoon showed up...
Dinner was lasagna made from this recipe... I did use ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese and chicken italian sausage instead of the hot breakfast sausage. No draining needed. Salad and garlic bread. Most of the meal (not the bread) was organic and I used a rice based lasagna noodle. It was the first time I had made it and it is now the only one I will ever use!
Dessert was only one of these chocolate cakes with strawberry filling and ganache. The other was for Vicki to buy for her family celebration.
Shockingly- Karl got a photo of my dad smiling...
oh look...another one!
and this is my favorite of Gary that night. Amy gave him a card that said he kicked ass as a dad. And then something about since she was an adult now she could say ass.
This is the envelope from the card Nick made. To make the card he used my typewriter and wrote about the things he remembers most about growing up with his dad. But the envelope just made us laugh because of the sketching he added.
Karl tried out some fun techniques while Gary shot pool-

and the rest of us played Cranium...
another post will soon follow-about some more fun we had as a family...you won't want to miss it!

I love May-part 3

Another party!!

This one was with the family and since most of them are working, I prepared dinner. We had pork chops baked with Rib City bbq sauce and roasted potatoes.

When it was time for presents I asked for my boa so I would be dressed for the festivities...
This is the cake I made...meringue disks with chocolate mousse layered between and frosted with mousse. Then I covered the outside with meringue sticks.
And this is what it looks like cut after sitting in the fridge overnight. Let me tell you - this was a yummy dessert and everyone liked it too.

We walked around the yard and looked at all the flowers blooming. Karl was on the look out for birds and bugs to photograph...he found some silly things too.
and this is Daisy helping herself to a bit of dinner...
So that was May...now you know why I like it so much!

I love May-part 2

I had only a couple parties growing up for my birthday so I plan my own every year! This year I did a take off on the movie "13 going on 30".

Amy designed the invites-

I neglected to take an photo of the goodie bags but they had wishing dust, razzles, pixie sticks, twinkies, a mixed "tape" cd and other assorted fun stuff.

In preparation, the kids strung twinkle lights and balloons for me-

I made "tie dye" cupcakes with chocolate frosting-

We had snacks popular in the 70's-

and mini sandwiches, wienie wraps and bbq meatballs too.

my partner-who knew just how to decorate for a 13 or 15 year party-
and did my bright eye make up and nails...

we had to have a wall of heart throbs-can you name them all??

Presents- including this huge flower-

I did take photos of the gals who came but...since I asked them to come in pj's and not all of them had make-up on-I decided for everybody's sake not to post them!

Part 3 will be coming up soon-