Sunny with a chance of SHOWERS! :)

I can finally breathe! I have been party-to 3 baby showers recently-- 2 of which I was in on the hosting. All were great, but I am happy to say they are over- and that they turned out really well!! Absolutely loved each of them!

The first was on June 12-- for Niki and Van. The theme was "Come Fly with Me" and the decorations turned out adorably! The airplanes were AWEOSME! Here's a few pics of the decorations:

An overall view

Banner 1 "come fly with me"

noticed the "table cloth" it's pieced together with the scraps from the quilt mom made

for Van (it matches his bedroom)

Danelle made the blocks- "Come Fly With Me" and on the back they spell "Van"

Jared helped with the restoration of these old airplanes, and they turned out great!

the other blocks said "Worth the Wait"

The centerpieces with advice cards around the edge, turned out so cute!

gift from Grandma Kathy and Gwen... So cute!

the back side of the blocks... so cute, great job Danelle! :)

the quilt that mom made for Van. So cute!

We hung airplanes from the ceiling over each of the tables, turned out soooo awesome! Way to go Danelle for figuring out that one! :)

Another airplane

and another... 

and another...

mom takes a SMALL break before everyone gets there...

Niki with her sisters and mom! So beautiful!

Renee, Mycala, and Crystal! :)

The games:

Make a baby out of play-dough... :)

The supplies

Niki and Mycala with her "baby"

the winner! :) 

up close- detailed look at the "winner"... sooo adorable! AND talented!

Game: which airplane flies the best??

Rhonda goes for it... can she beat the one out front?? 

The only one who really knew how to build an airplane that ACTUALLY flies was Casey! Way to go!!

Game: The best DECORATED airplane:

So many to choose from... and the winner is....

Phyllis!!

Game: Gift Bingo--- many winners here... :)

 the bingo cards... 

The Guests:

Grandma, Phyllis, Brooke, Cheryl, Sandie Wade, and Millie

Leona (back to us), Teresa, Casey, Carol, Liz and Sandy Layne

 Clayton even snuck in.. and got some dessert! :)

Gwen with David

Danelle with David

 Grandma Millie! :)

THE GIFTS:

an awesome quilt from Leona!

Eyore

 Baby Camo from Grandpa Van

 Diaper bag from Danelle (p.s. she made this!!)

Here's Niki, saying "You made this?! Wow!!"

Erika's Shower (at her mom's house)

Erika

The place settings

wow, look at this back yard! :)

Erika and her mom

look at all these gifts

Her sister gave her all of these pretty clothes

Handing out the "thank you" cookies

working on decorating the "onesie"

It was a great shower, and very fun, had yummy food, and she got a ton of great gifts! :)

Erika's Baby Shower (for the Ward)

Decorations:

The Sign in table

Mom & the balloons

The sign-in sheet

The FOOD

Yummy!

The Trifle

The Gifts!

The beautiful blanket

Such a pretty dress...

Overall, the shower was a great success! I am so grateful for mom, who came and helped with the house and the food! (and the back yard!!)

I experienced 3 great showers in 1 week. It was a crazy couple of weeks of preparing for them, but they were all great!

Family Reunion! :)

Over Memorial Day Weekend the Johns converged on the cabin! :) It was a lot of fun to see all of my cousins and their kids! :) Everyone keeps growing up sooooo fast! Lots of cute kiddos--- who were dirty as all get out! But that's what the cabin is about, right? Dirt??

We played lots of cards, took walks, played "Minute to Win it" (thanks Shari and Ashley). And Niki beat them all! :)

Except for the "flu" which about 8 of us got... it was an awesome weekend! Thanks grandma!

here's a few of my favorite pictures:

David during one of our walks to the pond:

Here's some more from the walk to the pond:

Andy and Vance

David checking out the action

Across the pond:

More pictures from the reunion:

The tire swing! Always popular with the kiddos!

David, always one the move!

Amy with Jackson, Shauna with Ethan.

Cooper in the swing

Another Walk

Clayton holding my "baby"

Adam, Jessica and family... on the "off-road" hike! :)

Bev and mom pose for a picture

Tessa blowing bubbles!

The dog whisperer... when I turned around, she was lying on the floor, whispering to the dog, of course, once I brought out the camera, she backed up... 

Grandma Jean with her kids

Peyton and David

Danelle and David

Amy and Jackson

Jared, roping?

Fixin' the Water heater... an ongoing project.

David, check out those BLUE eyes!

Phyllis and Hal

Jared celebrated his 23, oh wait... I mean, his 32nd birthday! Woo hoo!

Clayton and Niki

Mom, Ashley and Peyton

Andy and David

 These two are 3 days apart in age... David is 3 days younger than Jackson. :)

 Jackson

Wade

 Mom and Bev cooking the enchilada sauce, yummy!

 His favorite color was "dirt", but so was just about everyone else's! :)

 Helpin' dad!

So cute! Sharing the swing...

Over all we had a great time. Ate lots and lots of wonderful food, enjoyed great company, and enjoyed the great weather!

Four Options.. which one do you like better?

Ok, so the little feedback that I got said-- make it more baby-ish, well, I am short on baby scrapbooking items, but this is what I found so far. And I created a whole different look.

Option 1- my first attempt

Option 2- my second attempt, changed the wording

Option 3 - I kept option 2's wording and made a whole new layout.

Option 4- just changed from a butterfly to a bottle embellishment.

Which one is better, or do they all need help?? LOL!

thanks for your input! :) Valerie

another baby shower invitation

My friend Erika is having a baby girl, and I am making the invitations for the shower held by the ladies from our ward. Here's what I have come up with so far... any suggestions to make it better? I have removed the important parts-- like the time and place, and my phone number.... can't be too careful. There are 2 options, which one do you like better? the top one or the bottom one?