EVERBLOOMING FLOWERS

Staying with the Elders in Draper during our Education Week experience gave me the opportunity to give June some ceramic flowers I had made for her birthday in July. The flower on the right was already made and June had seen it on my blog or business website and mentioned that she really liked it. I set it aside, meaning to give it to her.  Then exactly a year ago when we stayed with them for Education Week last year, just as I was starting my business, June  bought 6 plates she thought I could make into flowers.  She pointed out one plate design she especially liked.  The plate was blue and yellow, which I always think of as "grandma's colors". So I made a flower for her from that plate as well.  It is the one on the left.

I know that my creations are durable in Seattle's temperate winters.  It will be interesting to see how they do in more extreme weather.

EDUCATION WEEK

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On Sunday right after sacrament, Chuck and I hopped in the car and took off for Utah to attend
Education Week at BYU. This is probably the 6th or 7th time we have attended over the last 15 years.  It is a 5 day experience of attending classes which inform, enrich and uplift. We have taken classes on retirement financial planning, how to experience joy in the mundane things in life, how to be a better parent and grandparent, and lots of classes on improving our marriage, build relationships with others, and listened to Elder Bednar talk about and encourage us to use social media to promote wholesome, encouraging messages to our friends.

There are other enjoyable things to do on campus, as well.  The campus art museum currently has an exhibit showcasing the original costumes worn in many major motion pictures. We saw the costumes worn by Johnny Depp and Kiera Knightly in Pirates of the Carribean, costumes from Sense and Sensibility, the one worn by Anjelica Huston at the prince's ball in Ever After, those worn by Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law in Sherlock Holmes, Minnie Driver's costume from Phantom of the Opera, etc. There were so many, and each one more exquisite than the last.  They truly are works of art. We were also lucky enough to watch one of 3 premiere showings of a new full length motion picture made by the church called "Meet the Mormons".  It is a documentary featuring 5 different Mormon families around the world. It was touching and inspiring and I whole heartedly recommend it to all when it is released to the general public on Oct 10.

It is fun to spend this time together as a couple, learning new things, being inspired, being challenged to become a better wife, parent and grandparent, member of the church and the community.

PETER RABBIT OBSESSION

Becca's best friend Carly is having a baby and  the two of us were thrilled at the prospect of throwing her a baby shower, which we did last weekend in her mother's backyard.  Carly picked a Peter Rabbit theme, and Becca and I kinda got obsessive as we planned the event.  Becca did all the food (which was AMAZING) and I did all the decorations.

The venue was the White's backyard which is huge with lots of grass and trees, centered around their large vegetable garden, which fit perfectly into our theme!

It turned out to be a pretty warm day, so some last minute adjustments were made.  Originally, we were going to set up on the deck, but because it was in full sun, we moved it down to the lawn and the fire pit area which was a lot more comfortable with a lot of shade.

Carly is loved by all, she had about 40 people attend.

To decorate, I took scenes out of the book and made little vignettes here and there on the lawn:

And of course, I had to dress the part as Mrs McGregor!

The bunny banner that hung around the garden was a particular labor of love.  Each bunny was different, with his own personality.  Some were chubby, some skinny, some perky, some bored, and one had been in a skirmish with a coyote and had a chunk missing from one ear! Each swag of the banner was tied up with fresh carrots and radishes.

Because of the size of the yard (the house sits on nearly an acre) I filled in with some of my own garden art for punches of color.

A sweet side note: I decorated the buffet tables with ceramic bunnies and larges baskets of vegetables, most of which came from Juli's (Carly's mom) and Leann's (Carly's aunt) own gardens!


The star of the show was the brunch Becca created along our theme:

The menu (all prepared by Becca) included mini spinach, ham and swiss quiches, mini carrot muffins, mini chocolate zucchini muffins, mini banana cream pies from Grandma June's recipe (Carly's special request- it is her favorite!)-

Becca also made mini strawberry and raspberry cheesecakes by coring the fruit and using a pastry bag to stuff them with cheesecake filling, then dabbing the tops in crushed graham crackers. There was a fruit garden with flowers on stems made from melons-

 

And what garden doesn't have a few pesky caterpillers?

 

There was also a spinach salad and a fruit salad brought by friends to round out the offerings, all with lavender Italian sodas to drink.

 

There were two large tables laden with food which all vanished by the time the shower was over- literally not a scrap of food remained!

 

 

Becca and I had so much fun, we are looking for a reason to throw another party!!