Hello friends and family!
This weekend kicked off the busy holiday streak that probably won't end until after Chinese New Year (February 10). It's exciting and very fun! I absolutely love this time of year! I just spent a lot of time looking at recipes for holiday dishes and desserts, and got even more excited.
Over the weekend my friend, Ali, and I threw a baby shower for a couple at our church. This couple announced that they were expecting while Kev, Ruby and I were in the States for the summer. Knowing baby shower supplies are hard to come by in Taiwan, I sent Ali a message asking if she wanted me to pick up any party supplies.
At that point we had little inspiration for a theme and we didn't know if or when they would be finding out the gender - so I just picked up a few things that were pretty neutral.
Church events have filled the calendar this fall, but we eventually decided on a date and a Pintrest-inspired robot theme for Little Boy Lopez. We decided we should keep things relatively simple (to preserve our sanity - since we're both new moms with babies about the same age). Although we do have some huge shower shoes to fill since our friend Nevada (a.k.a. Super Mom) threw some pretty fantastic showers in her days at The Pearl. (The last church baby shower had a fondant-covered cake that was perfectly shaped like a woman's pregnant belly - maybe it sounds weird, but it was so AMAZING). So, yeah, I was pretty intimidated to have the role of a party planner - since I really only make box cakes in 9x13 inch pans - if I make them at all. It was also a co-ed shower. So we really wanted the guys to have a good time, and not feel too weirded out about being at a baby shower.
In the end, everything came together great, and it was a really fun day of celebration for our friends at church! The food was gobbled up, the robot movie picture-reveal game created by Ali and her husband was a hit (especially with the guys), and we shared our excitement to add another member to the Pearl Family.
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| Ali made the delicious cupcakes and frosting! I made the robot toothpicks as decorations. |
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| Refreshing Rocket Fuel Punch |
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| Robot themed snacks |
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| The spread for the guests! |
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| Welcome, Baby Lopez! You are already so loved! |
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Tights. One cool thing about having a daughter is the fact that there are so many adorable baby clothes that we have ended up with. Ruby has a few cute dresses that she has not worn more than a time or two. It's getting a bit cooler here, so I decided that if she was going to wear a dress or skirt, she should probably wear tights with it. But here's the question I'm still not sure about: is the proper order, diaper, onesie, tights, dress OR diaper, tights, onesie, dress? I'm such a rookie. I probably did it wrong - but you can't tell in this picture. :)
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4 Thanksgiving Feasts this week - that's right, 4! I'll be making big batches of sweet potato casseroles to bring to the Elementary School Thanksgiving Feast on Tuesday and the Secondary School Thanksgiving Feast on Wednesday.
Then Kevin, Ruby, and I will head to a town that's about an hour outside of Taipei to celebrate Thanksgiving with the missionaries and children at The Home of God's Love Orphanage on Thanksgiving day - and we will bring another casserole, bread, and a couple dozen sugar cookies for decorating.
Then we will have our friends over for our annual Thanksgiving Feast on Friday, and we'll be cooking up some deliciousness for that. Though we really miss celebrating these special holidays with our families, we are glad we can celebrate with our friends and share the traditional Thanksgiving fare together. It's going to be a busy week of cooking and baking, but I am very excited, and feel so incredibly blessed. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
