saturdays are for showers~

when i was little we showered once a week.

saturday night before church was for showers.

(well, we bathed~ we didn't have a shower).  

last saturday we had a better kind of shower.

 three weekends in a row now, my daughter is being honored

 at bridal showers. it's soooo fun and i'm so grateful to the wonderful

women in her life that are putting all the time and effort into these parties

and kicking off a month of pre-wedding celebrations.

the first shower was hosted by my sister, sister-in-law mary and my 

cousin brenda. unfortunately my sister wasn't able to be there and i'm going

to tell you about that in a bit. 

last saturday a fun bunch of my family congregated in glencoe mn. for the 1st party.

brenda loves to plan and decorate for events. 

(girlfriend used to own a party planning biz).

i kinda of knew she'd knock it outta the park, but when my girl and i walked in 

and saw all thissssss, i couldn't believe my eyes!

just look at all the things brenda thought of and made and brought for this wonderful party~

this pink camo cap with the veil was one of my favorite parts.

i know...can you even stand it? in the middle of each table there was a vase filled with water,

lake shells, two pink bobbers, a floating candle and get this, REAL dehydrated

fish on hooks and line.

this is brenda, the hostess with the mostess.~

my sister in law mary -on the left- (she helped with the shower and made amazingly

beautiful and yummy cupcakes in adria's fave flavors).   :  ) 

cousin teresa is the other cutie. she stepped in for my seester and

said a nice table grace.

mary, run me down a couple of these cupcakes will ya? thx

bren had a head table for the mom's and bride to be. on right is the groom's mother.
She survived her first afternoon with the baldwins and seemed to fit right in. 

she even made us all laugh with a story about her son from high school

that he may or may not have wanted us to know.

my soon to be son-in-law is the youngest of her 4 children and

one of 3 boys and i can tell momma has some good

stories to tell...

our delicious caesar salad, garlic bread and lasagna lunch.

our newest family member, baby cora, her great g-ma dora (who's my mom's twin), grandma 

joan and momma abbey drove a long way to celebrate with us.

4 generations of family is such a miracle isn't it?

now let's talk about this.

bren made this great sign and hauled it all the way from

south dakota where she lives. unbelievable!

she even gave it to adria, but it wouldn't fit in

her car, so bren graciously offered to bring it to the wedding.=

this is my adorable g-nephew barrett. (bear boy)

it had been way too long since i'd seen him.

great wrapping~

here's another of brenda's gifts...she knit several pink camo hats for prizes. 

...and wrapped them in paper that matched the wedding invites...

i know~ don't even try to out-do her... it ain't goina

 happen!

it was all over too fast, and here the BTB (bride to be) is saying her heartfelt thanks

to all her family that traveled from around the state and made her feel so loved.

my aunt dar is on the right in the picture below. she's my children's "bonus" grandma. 
dar has been like a mom to my sister and i since her sister,

(my mom) passed away when us girls were little.

*i wish i would have gotten everyone who came to the shower in a picture,

sorry---we know you were there phil, lacey & darci and we love ya!)

i can't close without telling you about my precious niece jessie. she was in

a serious car accident a week ago today. (that's why she and my sis weren't able

to be at the shower.)

jessie is home recuperating from multiple injuries and the car that hit her

had a family in it. the driver of that car, a young mother-who was pregnant- died

at the scene. the father and little boy survived but will be healing for

a long time too.

 if you're a praying person, please lift them up in prayer

as they have much to deal with physically and emotionally in the days ahead.

*sweet jess, i am thinking of you and hoping that every single day

you are closer to being back to your normal 

fabulous, fun, silly self.

xox,

beth