Malan Family Reunion

For our Malan Family reunion, my Aunt Janice asked me to help with invites, name tags, decorations, and centerpieces. So I've been busily preparing for the even for a while now and this weekend, it finally arrived. I decided to try the spray painted tin cans for the centerpieces. I got the idea off of Pinterest       from this pin Spray Painted Cans. I ended up painting over 90 tin cans. {A big shout out to all my friends for helping track down 90+ cans!} 

Jenna and I went up a couple days before so we could have a birthday dinner with my mom. Then we went the next morning to help set up the hall. While I was getting ready to go, I noticed Jenna singing to a baby doll. She let me video her (miracle!), but as you will see, was less enthusiastic about me helping her with the words. 

 My ancestors helped to settle Ogden's east bench, so there is a Malan Ave, a mountain Malan's Peak, etc. still bearing our family name there. It's kind of cool. 

We mixed the cans with mason jars filled with rock salt and a candle, and then filled the cans with flowers and flags. I was pleased with how they turned out. 

Someone had hiked Malan's Peak and brought water down from the family's spring to serve at the reunion, which I thought was an awesome touch. 

My favorite part was getting a little time with my cousins. Aren't they beautiful? 

We were able to grab a family picture with some of the descendants of my grandparents.  The reunion was for all the descendants of my great-grandparents who at last count totaled well over 700. I would guess there were about 150 at todays reunion. 

And we got a picture of my Dad and all four of his sisters. I am not sure the last time they were all together. I though it was pretty special, especially when three out of the five of them have had some pretty serious heath issues over the last few years. 

Ruann, Emily, my Dad Randy, Janice, and Lisa

 For the decorations, Aunt Janice and I put together these posters about my great-grandpa Alexis Bartholomew Malan and great-grandma LaVeta Elfreda Andreason Malan. As well as one of them as a couple. They seemed like great people, plus he was a democrat which made me proud! 

The theme of the reunion was AB & Elfreda To The Rescue with a bit of a nautical feel. So the name tags included a life preserver with a picture of the 1 of the 13 children that you descended from. Here's mine: 

We also made a bunting banner with the theme title hanging from life preservers we made using styrofoam circles wrapped in fabric and rope. I loved how this turned out. 

After the reunion I got to see me niece, Maile for a little bit. 

I don't get to see her very often and I miss her terribly. Love you Miles! 

Jenna of course was an absolute champ on the flight home. She is just the best traveler and we could not be more grateful for that. I'm sure part of it is just that she has been doing it her whole life, but nonetheless. 

A Candy Land Birthday Party - Jenna's Two!

For the second year we had a joint birthday party for my nephew, Cooper, and Jenna. Since they were born just 3 days apart this is what's happening for now. We had the funnest time at the party. My sister, Sara, and I decided to do it in Saint George this year since her family was in town for Thanksgiving and went with a Candy Land theme. As most of you are probably aware, we don't really do anything on a small scale. So, yeah, went a little overboard....but it was to be expected, right? You'll have to forgive the 1000 pictures but I promised pics for the out of town fam...

We had candy cane balloon pillars on the entrance to the clubhouse.

When you opened the doors you were greeting by the start of the construction paper board game. 

It lead you around the room to each of the stations.

You started by getting your ice cream. 

You then stopped at the "Gingerbread Plum Tree" station. Where you could top your ice cream with chocolate sauce, crushed graham crackers, cheese cake crumbs, yogurt chips, brownie chunks, crushed Oreos, Butterfingers crumbs, mini Reese's peanut butter cups, milk chocolate caramels, or cookie dough chunks. 

The next station was the "Gumdrop Mountains" / "Lollipop Pass" where you could have a choice of Skittles, Dots, Smarties, Gummy Bears, Nerds, Mike & Ikes, M&Ms, gum balls, Pixie Stix, and lollipops. 

At the "Peppermint Stick Forrest" station we had well, peppermint candy canes, peppermint mints, licorice, and Jolly Ranchers. 

We also include the kid's gift "bags". Because we were pumping these children full of sugar before we sent them home we decided to not include any candy in the gift bags. We were lucky enough to come across some Candy Land chapstick in the Target One Spot {oh man, I love that place way too much!}. Target also had bubbles in a ice cream cone container, and we topped it off with a squiggly straw. 

We had cupcakes topped with Airheads Xtremes to look like a rainbow.  

I made a wreath from water balloons, tulle, and ribbon. I bought a Styrofoam wreath and inserted each balloon/tulle/ribbon piece in with a floral pin. It took FOREVER and my fingers were killing me by the time I was finished but I loved how it turned out. And I can totally reuse this at another party. I finished it off by printing a miniature version of the bunting banner I made for the entrance. 

We also had a water station, thinking these needed to be grounded with water after all the sweetness. 

My lollipop tree. Loved it. 

The reversible banner at the entry way. "Happy 2nd Birthday" on one side...

...Cooper & Jenna on the other. With a picture of each of them at either end ended up being the perfect number of characters. 

Birthday girl, Jenna Rose! 

We felt so supported by all of our friends and family that came out. My cute sister, Sara did the ice cream serving. The Quarders clan; Cooper, Sara, Chloe & Chris. And the birthday boy, Cooper. Seriously, how cute is he, all sugared up?!

We had a little cake walk for the kids to play. It was the only game we had. It was a great night. A lot of work!!! I really need to figure out a way to reign it in, but so far, that's not my m.o. so I have little hope of that changing. 

Kim's Tea Party Baby Shower

Heather Kearl, Tasha Hadley, and I hosted a baby shower for Kim Henrie tonight. We did a tea party theme and it turned out fantastic, if I do say so myself. I had scoured the local DI, thrift stores, and consignments shops in search for tea cups, tea pots, and china plates. They looked awesome, so eclectic. We used white tulle to cover the chairs, and then used various colors of tulle tied in a bow at the back to pull it all together. Heather, Kim and I went to garage sales and bought linen napkins (we told Kim they were for Allie's birthday party). We lit tea light candles and had fresh flowers throughout. It looked so lovely. It was so fun seeing everyone dressed up. The food was delicious. Heather and Tasha made cucumber sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, and chicken salad sandwiches. We also had two different kind of scones, mini muffins (provided by Heather Wadsworth and Diane Dutson), a veggie tray, and chocolate covered strawberries. Heather also made a fabulous lemon cream cake. We had ice water, pink lemonade with Sprite and strawberries, and Sprite with sliced cucumbers to drink. It was quite a spread. Everyone had such a great time and Kim deserved every second of it!