This past Thanksgiving weekend we flew to Alberta to be with family and friends ... to celebrate my wonderful parents. This year was a big one for them. They both turn 60 years old and celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary this past February. We couldn't pass up these huge milestones without a grand celebration for them. Life is busy and organizing a party is a lot of work but we would regret not celebrating them with friends and family.
We set out to do something different and memorable so we decided on the Great Canadian Barn Dance in Hillspring, AB. The grandmothers and a few others had experienced it before but it was somewhat of an unknown for us as we planned. We really had no idea what to expect other than others telling us the food and entrainment are amazing.
We were happy how it all went and everyone had a wonderful time. I was in charge of the decor, program and all the little details. My sister in law, Larei created two amazing videos for the program. My brothers helped with decor and emceed. The food was indeed delicious: barbed chicken, roast beef, mashed potatoes, salads and individual desserts.
I enjoyed putting together all the little details that I think make a party go from good to great. As guests walked in, they had their pictures taken in our photo booth. A Polaroid type picture was printed off and they were asked to write a message to the couple on the back. It was then pinned to a chicken wire frame. Each guest also took home a little favour. Because the facility was peanut free we had to get creative since we couldn't give out any food items. I found some tulip bulbs at a local nursery for each guest to take home. Seemed perfect for them to have something to grow since we are a farming family.
The grand kids sang two songs that we reworked just for Nana and Papa. Trevor accompanied them on the guitar. They did an amazing job!
After our program, we all headed upstairs to dance. The dance instructor started our group off with some line dancing and two step'n. Over the next few hours we danced, enjoyed cake and conversed. Not to forgot the epic paper air plane contest.
Overall it was night we will remember as we honoured our parents. They truly deserve it. Love you so much Mom and Dad. xo
Mom and Dad with their grandchildren
Photo Booth Station
All the guests pictures and messages
Black and white pictures of Mom and Dad
Guest Favours: tulip bulbs
Paper Airplane Contest
Individual Desserts
Watching the program
Grandkids signing to Nana and Papa
Lined up for the epic paper airplane contest
Good ole barn dance
Isla and Daddy. She loved dancing in her fancy dress
The little girls at the Photo Booth
The happy couple
Here is a video of the party put together by my cousin Kristin and her husband Corri. They live in California and we were thrilled they could come to the party. They do daily vlogs called The Hunzies. Our family loves watching them throughout the week. Enjoy!
Here is part one but make sure to click on part two. Enjoy!
It has been quite some time since I've logged into Lovely Little Day. It feels almost foreign as I sit here writing my thoughts. Something I just haven't felt the energy or the time to do in the past few months to do. But there is a good reason for it. Actually a great reason. We are expecting baby #3 this coming March! We are all very excited. I'm 16 weeks and starting to feel much better. The first three months are almost like survival with two little ones home all day. My biggest challenge was low energy more so than nausea. Which is quite different from my pregnancy with Isla. Yeah for no diclectin this time. So now that I'm feeling much better, I hope to start blogging and using my creative side again. As hard as it's been to not create and pick up a paint brush, it's been nice to focus on family and enjoy the summer fully.
Here is our official pregnancy announcement. Enjoy!
This past week our dear friends Mika and Sara had their first child, a baby girl. Lenna Avery was born on July 13. I know how much I appreciated my friend Ang taking pictures of our first moments with our first baby so I offered to take some of the new family of three. These first few hours ares so special. Mika and Sara were like every new parent: smitten. She is adorable and are very happy for them.
My sweet Isla Marie turned three! She is growing into a strong, independent spunky girl. I love watching her personality develop. She wanted a princess party so we started with pink, one of her favourite colour and went from there. I decided not to go commercial and focus on Disney princesses. Don't get me wrong, she loves all things Disney but I wanted to do something a bit more original. So I focused on glitter [an absolutely must for a princess] and mint, pink and white. I kept her cake simple with a chocolate pink rosette cake with edible pink glitter. The weather was questionable the morning of the party but we were able to pull off most of the party off outside. Isla invited 1o little princesses to her party so I was hoping to have them outside to sit so it wasn't too tight inside. I set up on the deck and had enough seating for them all. Decorating the tables was fun. I wanted the girls to feel special. I had three games planned for them. 1] Get Tangled. Girls were paired up and they had to wrap each up in yellow crepe paper as fast as they could. Every girl loves Rapunzel's long blonde hair. 2] Pin the Crown on Isla. Each of the girls were blind folded and had to stick the crown on Isla. 3] Find the Royal Jewels. I hid a crown and earrings in the backyard for one lucky girl to find. The final activity was making gold crowns with their mom as they left the party. The mom's glued a gold lace crown together for their daughter. Theses were made with various lace designs. I painted them gold and stiffened the lace with fabric stiffener and Modge Podge. It was a great morning with these sweet little princesses.
Games// 1. Get Tangled
2. Pin the Crown on Isla
3. Find the Royal Jewels
4. Make your own princess crown
Isla looked so cute so I took her to the park for a few photos.
Isla's actually birthday started with her first day of VBS, which she loved. She thought she didn't need an afternoon nap but crashed on the couch. We got DQ smart blizzards to go and headed to the park. Oma and Auntie came over to watch Isla open her gifts and have some ice cream sandwich cake.
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