Birthday Party Bath

First off just read my friend Jolie's blog if you haven't already to get all the info for this post:
http://klassenfamily.blogspot.com/2010/09/after-party-bath.html
Here a few more pictures of Abi that I wanted to add:

This picture isn't from bath time but before and Abi's words were "mommy dirty"

Abi is 2!

It is true Abi turned 2!
I cannot believe it, but she has officially started her third year of life!
Of course to celebrate we threw a big party and I worked for weeks getting everything planned and ready.  This year's party was a little different in that we were not leaving for a 2 week vacation the day after Abi's party, so the weeks leading up to the party were just planning not packing too.  I don't know how to throw a party that isn't great so I got to work.  I wanted to make centerpieces that were 2's painted red, black dots and pipe cleaners to make them look like ladybugs, oh yeah that was the theme for this years party.  I also made a banner using my friend Chris's cricut, it turned out great and I was really happy with it!  My favorite creation was probably Abi's Cake, my sister-in-law is an amazing baker but has shown me a few tricks of the trade.  She helps me out by baking the cake and I get the fun but more time consuming part of decorating the cake.  This cake was my third creation and I think it turned out great!  It took a few more hours (thanks to Denise it didn't take as long as it could have) than I had planned but nonetheless I was still happy with it.

The party was tons of fun and Abi was blessed to have so many people come who love her and want to shower her with gifts.  Abi even kept on the tutu that I had made for her all night and seemed to enjoy the extra attention.  I do have to make special mention about Abi's most special gift, made by Jolie.  The #2 shirt and matching skirt were a hit and Jolie did an amazing job on Abi's outfit!
The past 2 years have been an awesome journey, I have learned the gift of being a Mom and love my job.  God has entrusted me in raising this little girl and I take it very seriously, every day is a blessing.  Some may be a challenge but every moment I am surprised by Abi.  I look forward to the next year and all the fun it will bring.

Girl Weekend with Alli ~ Portland, Oregon ~ August 19-23

A few weeks back I had this craving to spend some time with my friend Alli.  Problem is, she lives in Oregon. . . kinda hard to get together.  I cashed in some credit card miles for free tickets and made plans to spend the weekend with Alli.  Even though Josh has been super busy at work he said that between both our moms and him  that Abi would be taken care of.  So off I went to Beaverton/Portland by myself!!!  The last time I went anywhere for a girl weekend was when I was 12 and I flew to Oregon to see my friend Anna, I know it's weird Oregon takes my friends away from me :-(
I flew out on a Thursday morning and arrived in Portland about 12:30.  Alli picked me up the airport and we headed to Ikea for lunch and a little shopping.  We hung out in the afternoon and went to a yummy sushi place for dinner with Ben and Clark.
Friday morning Alli, Clark and I went to their church's vacation bible school program to check it out while Ben was doing games in the morning.  They had over 800 kids at their church that week, what an amazing sight!  Friday afternoon Alli and I set out to do some shopping before our big night out.  Alli had found some cool fabric stores and a delicious French restaurant that serves crepes.  We had wonderful crepes and champagne for dinner and walked over to the Bagdad Theater (http://www.mcmenamins.com/219-bagdad-theater-pub-home) to see Dirty Dancing on origianal 35mm film strip, so AWESOME!  The theater was built in the 20's and was really pretty.

Saturday we went to the Woodburn outlets ands did some serious shopping.  Saturday night we stayed in for dinner and Alli and I watched a girl movie.  Sunday we went to church and did more shopping, of course!  There is this super cool store called Craft Warehouse, it's way better than Michael's or Joann's, but only in Oregon :-( and we went shopping there twice.  Sunday night for dinner we all went to another McMenamins called Rock Creek Tavern (http://www.mcmenamins.com/243-rock-creek-tavern-home).  I had a delicious dinner of ribs and tots along with a Ruby beer, I don't like beer too much but liked this one a lot!

Monday morning I planned on seeing another friend that had moved to Oregon when we were 11 and I have seen her a few times in the last 17 years but it had been a long time since our last visit.  Anna lives in Salem (about an hour south of Portland) and met me in downtown Portland to take me to the airport.  I went to Alli's work and said goodbye and off I was with Anna to enjoy lunch and some catching up.  It was so great to see friends and have an awesome girl weekend and I can't wait to be in Oregon again, but I doubt it will be alone the next time!