Bridal Tea - Wedding Rehearsal

August 15th - 20th

The five days after the party were jam packed with fun activities.

The Bridal Tea:

My Aunt Sherri threw a lovely tea for Carly, my cousin to be, at the Queen Mary Tea Room in Seattle. And all of the girls got to go! Kivi was asked to be the flower girl, so she got to sip hot cocoa and eat delicious desserts too. It was here that I fell in love with coconut tea and a new cute style of apron, which costs $85, so I'm now trying to make them.

Pioneer Farms:

We had to take my family to our favorite Pioneer Farms! We love this place! And this time we got all dressed up for the occasion too. It's a working 1880's hands on pioneer museum. Here we're getting a lesson in 8 year old boy chores: chopping wood! We also learned all the household chores, from washing clothes to the 3 year old chore of chopping vegetables.

In this log cabin Peter's obsession with fresh bread baking began. He has made a fresh loaf of bread (really, really good bread!) almost everyday since!

Nonnie working with Opal on her walking. If she was a pioneer child, I don't know if she'd make it. I'm pretty sure walking was required of children before 18 months.

Jasper enjoying his horse ride.

Don't worry, the chicken really liked this.

Nonnie and Kivi making wool into yarn.

Flaming Geyser:

Our group was too big to fit in one vehicle so instead of taking 2, we took 3! Nonnie and I rode on the back of the motorcycles to the park and Buggy and Dodie on the way back.

We ate some lunch, roasted some pink marshmallows in the Flaming Geyser flame and took a short hike.

Indian Stew:

We had dinner one night over the fire down by the beach. Everyone added their own ingredients and seasonings to their foil pouch then we stuck them in the fire ( a little too long for some) and ate at the new picnic table Peter built this summer, along with a fresh loaf of bread and homemade jam of course.

Eben enjoying his Indian Stew.

Manicure Day:

All the girls went to get French manicures before the wedding. This was Kivi's first one and she was so excited! Mimi already had her nails done so she got a pedicure.

The Weltes, Johnstons, Tagues and Johnsons:

My pop's sister Aunt Mary and her family were able to visit briefly before they had to visit Uncle Tom's dad and we had to leave for the wedding rehearsal. My cousin, Kenzie, and her family live in Dubai. So it was great to see them even for a short time.

Cowgirl Kivi's Hoedown!

Kivi turned 4 on July 14th! Yee Haw!

My cousin Brian got married in August, so we decided to wait until my whole family would be up in WA for the wedding so they could all come to Kivi's big day. She chose a hoedown this year! It was so much fun! I love putting together parties, but for some reason I got really stressed out about it this time. I love the details. Too much. I went really crazy for a bit, but Peter brought me back to reality, and I decided to trust God that everything would be great. And it was, it didn't even rain! Which was my biggest fear. I have my priorities out of wack, I know.

We had a great time chowin' down on Miss Tiffany's Baked Whistleberries, Grandma Jacque's Country Cornbread and Gruntsteak (pulled pork) Sandwiches. Kivi wanted a pink boot shaped cake, so that's what she got. And since I'm a crazy party nut, she got a lot more than that. But I'll admit it, it's mainly for me. I'm pretty sure she'd have been happy with just the cake.

Mama and Dada with the big 4 year old birthday girl.

Bubba retreating to the hay to scarf down his food. (And a dead horse in the background. It had been riden too hard on the trampoline giving kids turns "bull riding".)

One of my favorite pics of the day. Miss Tiffany doing her lasso thing!

The dad's had a pig callin' contest, of which no one won, and a lasso contest, which both Grandpa's won. Here's Poppie ropin' the haas. We also had a pig race were the kids worn pig snouts and crawled to their parent.

Peter filled his truck with hay and tossed tons of coins in and let the kids search for treasure in the hay the whole time. The kids loved this! Especially Trey and Logan.

Our sign.

Details. Tin cans. Bandanas. They were hung everywhere too.

It was a girly hoedown.

More details. Our cowboy/cowgirl boot party favor cookies.

More boots.

Opal and Kivi had matching pink boots. Opal's first pair of shoes that actually fit on her feet.

Opal "standing" for the longest time while we took family pictures. Her stance kept getting wider and wider.

All the cowboy and cowgirls. Kivi was the only one not looking at the camera!

My other favorite pic: Jayna still wearing her pig nose after the pig race. Kivi loves pigs! So we had to incorporated the favorite farm animal in the party.

Eben and Aunt Sherri

Kivi girl waving to her adoring fans as they sing her "Happy Birthday". It was so cute! She had the biggest smile!

We love you Kivi Pea! Your precious smile, the way you share, how you're always ready to help Mama, Dada or your brothers. You can entertain Opie for hours. You're the smartest girl ever - reading and writing already! You always think about what God would want you to do and try so hard to use your self-control. You have an infectious love of Jesus even at such a young age. You are loved and cared for by lots of people and especially by God. We are so proud that God chose us to be your Mama and Dada. Happy 4th Birthday Sweet Pea!

P.S. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna get sidetracked in your lifetime on the wrong details. And I want to apologize now for when I do. Because the main thing is that your are loved. So please forgive me if I freak out about stuff, and remind me to just love you. And to trust God.