california: part one

the first couple days we were in california priscilla and i
were preparing for jacob's big surprise party.
the colors for the party were orange, blue, and lime green.
and the party favors were little bags of candy.


so we went to a wholesale grocery store with HUGE bins of candy
bins the size of outdoor trash cans
and dug through the bins picking out only the
orange and green gummy worms,
the bright blue gummy bears,
the blue and green jolly ranchers,
the orange tootsie pops.

you get the idea.

we looked like crazy people.
and maybe we were. HA!

one teenage girl walked up to me and asked:
"are you seriously picking out all the blue ones?"

Yes. Yes I was.
don't worry. i had plastic bags on my hands.
it was totally sanitary :)

another young couple stood at a distance watching for a few moments before he finally asked:
"do you only like the orange worms?"

actually, I hate gummy things.
I think they are disgusting.
sometimes I try one again...thinking maybe something in my taste buds will have changed.
nope. never does.
It may have something to do with a negative childhood experience.
I'm not exactly sure.

but digging through the candy bins for two hours (yes, two hours!) was totally worth it!
the party was great and jacob was totally SURPRISED!
Priscilla made these cute banners and did an incredible job organizing the whole thing.




this was my attempt at getting creative with the flower bouquet.
for my first time it turned out pretty well, though next time I would try a couple things differently.

after eating lots of yummy food
everyone had a great time cooling off in the pool.




melonie went from clinging to uncle rob's back and refusing to leave the step last summer
to jumping off the side and
SWIMMING on her own.
she might be the more cautious one, but she is coming around.

gabriella, on the other hand, is full throttle all the time.
love it. a girl after my own heart :)

(check out her tutu swimsuit...isn't that the cutest?!?!)

i opted out of swimming this year due to a dumb migraine.
grrr. oh well.

we're so thankful we got to celebrate jacob's big birthday
and spend time with family.
good thing most of the candy was gummy stuff,
I was able to have a little self-control!