Bee's 2nd Birthday Tea Party in Hanford

We had a Tea Party for Bee's 2nd Birthday. With the help of family and friends, we had a fantastic time.

Lyle made Bee a 2 shaped healthy muffin birthday cake. She really got to eat it because it did not have any processed sugar in it. Use fruit for sweetness, cream cheese for icing, and bran cereal for the muffin base = cake for Bee.



Bee sees her cake for the first time. She liked it.Bee and Papa with her cake.
Bee was afraid to get too close to the candles. Annie helped her do her practice of blowing out the candles.
These are the happy Great Grandparents to Bee. They love her a lot!
This is Dave and Debbie Fox. Debbie made all the sweet mini-treats for the party. She worked 11 hours to make enough treats for 60 people. She is amazing and a wonderful friend to volunteer to do all the hard work! Thank you Debbie! Dave assisted in carrying in and helping set up. Thanks Dave!

Here's Lyle just waiting for the party to begin.Uncle Leonard came by himself to a 2 year old's party. What a wonderful guy! We love you Leonard!

The table was filled with wonderful tasty treats made by Debbie and Bee's Great Grandma Asta.

Family is always the early arrivers!
Bee had a pretend Tea Party with some of the children who came to the party. This is with Tessa. Annie made some tasty looking felt treats for her table. Pretending is so fun!
Viola Swamp got dressed for the party. She has a tea pot dish towel, tea set, and 3 pictures of Bee having Tea at the Plaza Hotel in NYC with Eloise. (A famous book)
Ethan joined the girls. Everyone had a great time watching the show.

Many friends started arriving at the party.Jason, Lindsey, Annie, Tom...
Tom, Asta, Lois, Barbara..
More Tea Fun...
Our Cousins Sheryl and her 1 year old daughter Avery. We really appreciated them coming from Fresno to join us at Bee's party. (Husband Danny and Addison were out with the fishes.)

Avery joined Bee and Tessa for pretending fun.In the family room, the children decorated denim bags to hold the things they got at the party.



Next, the kids made puppets. They could fix them the way they liked. Moms and helpers glued on the felt to the puppets.Denis Bray drove up from So Cal just for Bee's party. What a great guy!
Bee's God-father Joe Sousa rode up with Denis all the way from So. Cal. Bee loves these guys!

Sandee my favorite and the best hairdresser and manicurist is in the background. She had done my nails for nearly 20 years! I was so glad she got to come to Bee's party!

Addison's puppet.Jolie, Jeanine, Annie and Bee...
After the little kids finished with the puppets, the big kids wanted to make puppets too. What fun!
Sorry this is not turned....but well worth the puppet appreciation to look at Bee's Aunt Melissa and her friend's puppets.

Many people crowded around to watch Bee and Annie open the presents.Barbara volunteered to write and keep track of the gifts. She is such a sweetheart!
Great Grandma Asta got Bee an Ariel doll. She really looked at her.
Sheryl and Addison got front row on the floor for the openings. Aren't they cute!
Great Grandma Asta got Bee the necklaces and tiara. She is saying "Cheese" for this picture!

Melissa and Tessa got her those pink shoes....Bee insisted walking around in them. She loves the jewelry and shoes! (That's my girl!)

Cute Bee Dog card.Taylor and Kristian Bringard got bee some new Pink Boots. She loves them!
Lindsey got Bee this cute stuffed animal.
Addison and Bee are saying Goodbye to each other.
Bee got to blow out her candles 3 times for her party crowd. (Good thing we practiced before the party!)
Unfortunately, my camera battery ran out! I had the best shot of Sheryl, Danny, and the girls and it did not take! I recharged enough to get this last shot.

It was a fun party. We wrote down 48 names of people we knew were there. It was pretty crazy at times. People were on the patio, family room, dining room, living room, and sometimes upstairs. They were everywhere! But we had a fun time with beautiful, tasty food!

Thanks to all who helped us with Bee's party! I have wonderful friends! Thanks!

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Friday, Bee, Cory, and Annie came to Hanford. Here is Bee playing with Cory and Nate's old toys. I am glad that I saved them.Saturday morning we got the party balloons. Bee had a great time driving them around the house on the walking trike. Dotty was her best friend following her everywhere.
Bee decided that all the babies needed to go swimming in the pool. We had a great time pretending together. I love how she is starting to phrase and put ideas and words together.

Fun Fun Fun!!!!!
This Mimi loves her Bee Bee!
Daddy and Bee on Saturday afternoon. Cute!
Tomorrow I will post her Birthday Party pictures. What a fun time that was today!!!!

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It has been fun getting ready for Bee's Party on Sunday.

Being home-bound for several weeks gives you time to think, ponder, design, and create.

I loved painting this Party sign for the door.
Then, I needed to do something with my favorite pictures of Bee this year.

This little picture quilt was a lot easier for me to make than finishing a year of scrapbook pages. It is my 1st picture quilt. I love the subject!
Getting very anxious to see my NYC family!

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Lois Turns 85!

(Still having trouble turning the blog pictures. They are turned in the saved files, but come up all horizontal when I post on the blog.)

Saturday, August 28th, my mom Lois Lind turned 85! As far as she knows, she has lived longer than anyone in her family. She is doing great and had a wonderful day. Her friends across the street brought her a beautiful copper wind chime. They hung it just outside her sliding glass doors to see and hear. Another friend from church, Aldine, took her to breakfast at Denny's and then a little shopping. And, she got so many birthday cards from friends, they almost covered her entire dining table! She is a loved lady!
For dinner, Lyle and I took her Chinese food. It was terrific and quite large potions so there is plenty of leftovers for another day!
Her cake says, "Lois 85th"



I made her a small wall quilt that has 1 Corinthians 13...the love chapter words on it. She wanted it placed where she could see it on a regular basis. So, it fit perfectly over her fireplace.
She got a new dress to wear to church. She looks beautiful in that turquoise color.
Cory, Annie, and Bee sent her a hand made glasses holder.
All in all, she had a great birthday. We pray many more blessings on this special lady! What a pleasure it is to call her "My Mom."

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August Happenings

Could not get this picture to move down!

The last time I blogged, sitting in the chair too long, set off my sciatic nerve into non-stop pain. So today, I am laying on a heating pad on the couch and using the Mac for the 1st time to do a blog. Obviously, I am having trouble turning and moving some pictures.

Anyway, I have been keeping somewhat busy making bags, dolls and my 1st wall quilt.
This doll is for Ainsley Reed.

This doll is for Claire Bringard's 2nd birthday.

This wall quilt is for Hacienda Nursing Home for all the wonderful staff that cared and attended to Lyle's dad Clayton. It has all the thoughts of 1 Corinthians 13...the love chapter. We feel like these qualities were extended to our family and the people they work with each day.

On Monday, Aug. 16th Kate had her 25th birthday. Lyle made her a giant cookie.
On Wed. We had our Bible Study Group for a pot luck and celebration for Lisa and Kate's birthday. The food was fantastic and deserts were plentiful! This is Lisa she just turned 40. She is a sweetheart!
Here is Kate with the same cake.

Moving back in time. On Sat. Aug. 14th we traded our '04 White Maxima for an '07 Copper Orange Ford Edge. We were very pleased dealing with Carmax in Fresno.

Here is Lyle with the first picture of the new car.

We were not sure of the color, but we like it now. We LOVE driving it! More comfortable and higher seats give a great view of the road and countryside. We are still figuring out some of the bells and whistles. The navigation system will be nice when we get it down. It's a fun new toy.
Best of all this month, our Bible Study friends have adopted us as their baby's local grandparents. Kate, Jesse, and baby Ainsley are regulars at the Bruce home. (And we love it!)

Because Kate is continuing her college classes and gets a lot of homework, we have volunteered to take care of Ainsley when she needs time to catch up. Ainsley is the best baby to watch. She smiles and coos, focuses on our black and white pictures, and rarely fusses. She loves to have her pants changed and listen to our voices. She is a sweetie!
My mom, Grandma Lois, likes to come over when we are babysitting. She loves to hold babies! She's a professional baby rocker, working the MOPS crowd for years at the church!
Lyle and I would take her everyday if it were possible, but we have to share with her parents.

We miss her on the days she does not come over!
Because I have not been feeling well and pretty much house bound, Ainsley has been a wonderful distraction for me. There is nothing like a baby in the house. Neighbors and friends have come by and everyone loves to see a baby.

Ainsley turned 7 weeks yesterday. She is a beauty!
I love this picture of them both snoozing. I know Lyle was not completely out, because right after the picture when I thought he was sleeping, I watched his right hand patting her little behind.

Other than my pain and misery, dr's appointments, and couchtime, that is it for this month at our house.

Except, we were very happy to see our friends Jordan and Sarah while they were here on vacation from Spain. They enjoyed the backyard slip and slide with Jordan's cousins on one day last week. They are now headed back to Spain. Also, Alex, aka The German came to visit. It is always nice to catch up on his happenings.

If you read our blog and are in the area, we are people you can just drop in on. We'd love to see you. Come on by!

Lastly, Cory, Annie, and Bee are going to be here by Sept. 11th. We are having Bee's Tea Party Birthday at our house on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 12th from 2-5. If you did not get an invitation, but read our blog, you are invited.

Hope to see you there.

Marlene

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