Monday, July 14, 2008

One Weekend, Two Parties!



Kayla and her boyfriend on her graduation on May 1st.
Our party. on Saturday, was to celebrate the success of Heidi, David, Kayla and Stephanie(our 'adopted' daughter).
As a family, we wanted to remember Kayla in this celebration. So I put her grad photo out on display next to the others. Her presence was keenly missed but warmly remembered. I am certain she was close by enjoying this family time.

Stephanie is Heidi's best friend. She is our "adopted" daughter. Kayla and her family had just moved away to Edmonton. Heidi was missing her keenly when Stephanie magicaly appeared in her grade two classroom and they latched onto each other instantly. Stephs dad died three years ago and she looks to Keith as a father figure. She really is like one of our own kids! We love you steph and are so proud of you. And thanks to her Mom heather for sharing her with us. Little Lexi has really taken a shine to Steph as well. She sits on her knee and hugs her.
The 16 children swam for hours. Auntie Valerie was ready for the sun with her hat and big glasses. Valerie has always been so supportive of the many children in this family. Never had kids of her own, but is the most amazing Auntie these kids could have wished for. She even gave Keith and I a nice card and a gift to recognize our efforts as parents in assisting the kids to this point of their young lives. Thanks Val! We love you.
Thanks also to Kathreen for her wonderful email filled with such glowing comments and support. We are sorry she didn't make it into town, but there will be other times. Kathreen is Keith's first cousin.

The men played Boche Ball, which is a sort of lawn bowls.
They all had a chuckle when I asked them to pose for me holding their balls! From left to right is Keiths Brother Norm, (Kayla's dad), Their Dad, Harvey, Their Uncle Stuart, and of course that sexy beast, my hubby, Keith!



I was delighted to have Deanna of WORD OF THE HOUR IS... (see my side bar), and her family join us. Deanna was the first real friend I made in Canada back in 1975. Here she is with her little golden haired beauty. Though we don't see near enough of each other, I am aware how lucky I am to have been blessed with such a good friend. I am so proud of the wonderful wife and mom she is!



Deanna's Husbandman and Hamsterson played little bit of fooze ball against Keith and Auntie Valerie.



Later , some of the boys played RISK. These boys get along so well. Without being asked, Troy and Nick cleaned up all the dishes from the party! I am sure their Mom in Edmonton must miss them terribly as they are such pleasant, willing, cooperative and intelligent young men. Such a pleasure to have them here.
Its been a busy weekend for this family.
I think we had 35 people here. Only ten of those weren't family! Half of them were kids. They were amazing little people and though the noise was fit to break the sound barrier, there was only laughter and happy noise. Not a squabble was uttered. The pool was packed with all the cousins. It was lovely to see them enjoying each other so well. The next day was another big event. Keith's other brother was having a party for his youngest daughters third birthday. I couldn't go as I had to work but the rest of the family was there. My SIL Donna took these pictures for me.

Here, Heidi sits with her Grandma in the shade of the canopy trying to keep cool. Our kids are blessed to have two wonderful Grandmothers. Heidi loves both of them so openly. By the way, this party will be televised in the fall as part of a reality show. There were TV cameras there recording the day. The host family is undertaking the 100 mile challenge. Everything they eat in that house for six months, has to be grown within 100 miles of home. Watch for it in the fall!Thanks for dropping by. Have a good week.

10 comments:

Walker said...

Looks like a fun time was had by all celebrating everyones achievements.
You and Keith are the perfect example of how to be a family to your own and to those who reach out for a family they need.

sharon said...

I love how family oriented your fam is. They really seem to know the value of what they have. I love how Heidi is holding Gramma's hand. How sweet. Congrats to Heidi, David, and Stephanie on their graduation...Now onto the next chapter in their lives. Congrats to Kayla too, who no doubt was and is there with you all.

That's so sad about Stephanie's Dad...she must miss him very much, but she's lucky to have such wonderful people include her the way your family has.
I'm sure they all make you very proud:)

Dina said...

Hi Susan, thanks for your compliments over at my blog. I try my best with photographing the kids best moments so that they can look back at these photos and remember their childhood. The collages i do are very easy actually , google 'picasa2' and download it. this is what i use for the collage. However I want to try photoshop when i get my hands on one :).

lovely photos you posted of your parties. Did you ever receive my parcel??

Fred said...

What a great post! It looks like everyone had a great time.

I was a huge Risk fan growing up. We would leave the board in our basement and continued playing the same game until we finished it, sometimes a few weeks later.

Anonymous said...

That was some party! It's great when siblings and cousins get along so well. We are a smaller family. I have two boys (16 & 17 this year), and my brother has a boy and a girl, (14 & 10 this year). It's nice having a niece to do girly things with, but I wouldn't want to be without my boys, all 6' and 6'3'' of them!
Thanks for showing Kayla's graduation photo. How nice that you celebrated her graduation too. You are such a close family, I envy you.

Unknown said...

You sound amazing, Susan! Your love is a testament to the loss others have had in their lives and I am so happy that you shared this! lol!!!!!!

Penny said...

Great party. Your family and friends will always cherish these special memories.

Deb said...

Hi Susan,

These are times that your kids will remember as long as they live. The sense of acceptance and love you are giving them will warm them on many a dark night of the soul.

Hugs from HOT Summerland!

EMOB said...

Kayla looked beautiful in that photo...thanks for sharing it. Glad to see you've been having what looks like a great summer so far!!

Bobbie said...

Your posts about your family are always so heartwarming, Susan.

There is something for you on my blog.

I hope you're having an enjoyable day!