Sunday, September 25, 2016

A Fun Dinner and Introducing Moses to Baby Showers, Family and Friends!

The morning after Rick and I returned to SLC, my sister and I made a quick trip to Bear Lake where a beautiful graveside service was held for my cousin’s wife. They lived in Las Vegas most of their lives but she was laid to rest in the Bloomington Cemetery where most of our relatives are buried. It was especially sad because this was a beautiful 71 year old woman who had just given a talk at the church and just leaned over during the dinner that followed and died of a sudden brain hemorrhage. Life it so fragile!  She was a magnificent woman! 

It was great to have a few hours with my best (and only) sister though. She is my best friend (next to Rick)! The wind whipped up our hair. Look at that flag! 

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After that I had 48 hours to whip up a dinner party for my dear book club friends and spouses. We had a fun dinner with an Indian theme. I made Chicken Tikka Masala and everybody brought delicious contributions. We had this table for 20 especially made for our own adult family but it works well for our book club too!

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After dinner we gathered in the the living room for a discussion about our new book Life in Full since we are all at the exciting age where life is full to overflowing! Rick led the discussion and we  loved the wonderful ideas and thoughts added by these dear friends.

Just as everyone left, we got a call from Eli who said he was on the front row of the US Open, watching the semi finals. Since it was 1:15 a.m. and most of the audience had left, he was thrilled to slip down to the front row. I happened to turn on the news and notice that I could see Eli as they were interviewing Stan Wawrinka after his win on the national news. It made us laugh to see Eli there right behind him. I snapped a picture of the picture! See him in a blue shirt right in the middle there behind Stan who is being interviewed? That kid is crazy about tennis. I wonder where that came from???


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Onward….Our little reunion in New York City gave Charity and Ian an opportunity to introduce Moses to his Aunts Saydi and Julie and his Uncle Eli along with his six cousins on the East Coast. From Texas the Wrights flew to Orange County where Noah and Krisit live with their five….soon to be six little cherubs.

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Twenty four hours later they were off to Salt Lake. Shawni and Claire flew in from Arizona and met them at the airport. Claire has been dreaming about meeting this child every day since he was born! She is her mother’s daughter!  I don’t think there’s a child on earth more baby crazy than this dazzling little girl! Here’s a shot at the airport:


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Here’s Shawni’s Instagram post that steals my heart!


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We were so thrilled to have Moses home! He was excited about his new Eyrealm t-shirt since he wasn’t there for the reunion:

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Saren and Eliza came from Ogden to spend the day and be there for a family baby shower for Moses that night! My sister Lenna  came from North Salt Lake along with so many of her daughters and daughters-in-law and their girls! It was so great to have them all together along with many other cousins and friends! Obviously, I left my camera somewhere in the house and I’m having to draw from every source I can find to fill in the gaps on pictures! Thanks all!

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Did we ever have fun being together and enjoying baby Moses! !
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Another grand Baby Shower was thrown by Charity’s friends who came from near and far! Two friends even flew in from California for the festivities! There were high school friends, college friends and work friends. What a grand celebration for Moses!


I missed getting there in time to get everyone enjoying lunch but here are a few dear friends who were left at the table by the time I got there!
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One of Charity’s delightful, ultra creative friends, Dani really did a number on the decorations. She’s amazing! Who would think of this for a baby shower?

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Or this? (taken that evening after everyone left).

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I think another friend thought of this:

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These wonderful friends created a day to remember for Charity and Ian and….Moses probably recorded something in his cute little brain on the love surrounding him on this memorable day!

(These pictures are taken from the balcony with lots of light flowing in as Ian and Charity opened the lovely gifts!)

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The next day was Sunday. We traveled to Ogden to have brunch with the Looslis and have one last celebration before everyone went their way.

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Josh had flown in from AZ to enjoy the hoopla of meeting this new little guy. You can already tell that Moses is going to love his Uncle Josh!

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After church we dressed him in his new jammies that his Grandfather bought for him in London before he was born. His grandfather kind of likes him!


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So it’s goodbye for now as Shawni and Claire had left the day before and we dropped Josh off at the airport to fly back to AZ. Ian and Charity headed for Provo to see Ian’s sisters and grandparents before flying back to London. Rick and I got ready to fly out to give a speech in Detroit. The party is over for a while, but wow, we made the best of those wild and wonderful mini-reunion days!

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