100 Days

Next week will mark 100 days since our son left home to serve a mission.  I'm surprised it's been that long and somehow at the same time, it feels longer.

To celebrate this milestone, for his package this month we wrote down 100 reasons we love our elder.  One hundred is a big number and I put out our paper several days in advance, thinking it would take a long time to come up with that many things.   I underestimated our son's awesomeness.  It was no problem and we polished it off easily in one evening.

Each family member used a different colored marker so our elder could quickly see who wrote what (although he could probably guess by the handwriting--Cholita is tricky though because her handwriting is better than most adults.)  Her number 65 is one of my favorites.  Yes, her brother does always worry that the milk might be bad.  I also love her #72.  Something about a sweet child's misspelling when they're talking about something so heartwarming makes me get a wee bit choked up.    And speaking of misspelling, #57 is a good one--XiXi's observation that "he's a Good bruther".

And speaking of getting choked up, Lyle's #100 said, "He's my pride and joy."  

Yes, indeed, we have the first part of the word missionary down pat.
We miss him.

Prom Night Dinner Numero Tres

In 2012 we hosted prom night dinner for two.  It was an intimate little gathering requiring very little effort.  Last year we expanded to a group of 6; rather tiring, but very fun.  Prom 2014 broke all previous records with a party of......fittingly.......14.

Lucy looked so lovely.  We bought a dress that she liked, but she didn't feel comfortable with the length.  We added black tulle to the bottom of the lining and then black lace along the front.  To fancy it up a bit, we tied a black satin ribbon around the waist.  Much to my relief, she loved the end result.

This photo makes me laugh just a little bit.  How far can her date possibly get from her while attaching the corsage?   Far enough that it was hard to get them both in the frame.

Lucy's date was a friend from choir and they had so much fun.  

For the dinner, we moved the furniture out of the front room and brought tables and chairs over from Lyle's office.  It was extreeeeemely cozy, but it worked.

  Thankfully skinny little Rose was our head waitress (with Cholita and XiXi providing back-up assistance), so she could navigate the tight spaces to take orders and serve food.

Lyle repeated his previous prom night dinners with salad with raspberry vinaigrette followed by an entree of either parmesan chicken or filet mignon with mushroom caper sauce.  The sides were rosemary potatoes, gingered carrots and sesame asparagus.  

The guys volunteered to bring desserts, which was a huge help.  

Based on the amount of laughter, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Or maybe it was nervous laughter?  Hard to say.

Before they left for the dance, I tried to get a couple more shots, but with that number of people, 

photo bombs were apparently,

inevitable.

I don't know that we'd volunteer to host 14 again,

but if we did, this is the group we'd want!