"The Ladies"

I had a lot of great experiences and opportunities and gained a lot from the past decade of living in Utah.  One of those was the opportunity to make some really great friends.  I've been very blessed throughout my life with great friends.  Attending the singles ward in SLC provided me with the opportunity to meet some wonderful friends - and although it has been a long time since we have left the Cottonwood 17th Ward - some graduated while others of us got kicked out for old age - those friendships have only become stronger over time.  Apparently weddings and babies and real life do that for a friendship as much as cleaning out cat poop from kitchen cupboards and impossible but achieved service projects. 

Our tradition for bridal and baby showers was to get this small little group together for a sleep over (they have gotten shorter as our responsibilities at home have gotten bigger) usually in Midway.   The ladies had planned mine months ago for March 2nd.  Unfortunately my bed-rest prison sentence made that impossible so they generously re-arranged and came all the way to our house this past weekend.  Lindsay, Holly and Tamara arrived around 4pm and Brown and Camille arrived around 9pm.  We had so much fun catching up and visiting and I was so relieved to have something to talk about besides myself and get caught up with them from my laying down position on the couch.  We got take-out from Jaliscos and ate dinner with Shane when he got home from work and he was a good sport to sit and visit with all of us.  That is a lot of estrogen in the room and none of us have small personalities!   Shane went to bed early and left us to watch a movie and laugh a little to loud (he wore ear plug and took an Ambien!). 

The next morning Shane went to BC's for breakfast and some Bonanza watching and played guitar with Cade.  Then he went to the movies with Ruth, Kent, Elijah and McKay Beck (they saw the movie The Lorax - he thought it very political/environmental) and then went back to BC's to watch college basketball.  Then he went to dinner with the Becks and the Jacksons.  He had fun and I'm sure he needed an break from babysitting me on his time off! 

The ladies made breakfast and we visited some more while some of them ran some pre-party errands.  They set up a cute little shower in our living room/dining room area.   They hung Baby Boy and Baby Girl banners, had darling balloons, and butter mints in blue and pink.  Holly brought me my favorite salsa in all of SLC (from Loco Lizard) and they brought up beautiful and delicious cupcakes from my favorite bakery in SLC (and the oldest), Bakkers.    They got more take out from Jalisco's (they loved it that much - and I heard more than one person say, "why can't they have these good of restaurants in SLC?").   They brought me a baby-supply flower arrangement from Hillary Carter - a friend from the singles ward who we have stayed in touch with (Shane and I) as she is the office manager at our doctor's office in Utah.  It has blue and white gerber daisy (silks) flowers, white flowers made out of diapers, blue and pin k bath towels, blue and pink rubber duckies, blue and pink bottles, binkies and lotions and potions for babies.  So cute I don't know if I can ever un-assemble it!

The ladies did some research online and asked a few of my friends here in town and their generous group gift to me was a beautiful photo frame and a gift certificate for a new-born photo shoot and print with Alyce Clegg studio here in town.  I'm excited to use it!!! They also bought some cute little sleeper pajamas for Shane's babies (that they found on clearance and couldn't pass up).  One has guitars all over it and one is a Halloween costume for a 6-9 month old baby that is a bull-dog.  So fun!

It was so great to see these friends and catch up with them!!!  As they were leaving I told them they had to stop at Reed's Dairy for some icecream - it was that good!  Some of them have had it at the fair so they were an easy sell.  When they got there they ran into the most handsome man in town at the end of a fun day with friends - so they posed for a photo and sent it to me (as I was home all alone!).

 Here are some of the photos.  The lighting isn't very good as it was very sunny outside. The perinatologist told me I could take my meals at the table (so don't feel the need to tell me I'm supposed to be laying down!)  Shane has kept the banners up since we haven't made a decision on what to do for blinds or curtains in the dining room.... so the shower lives on!