{Their Journey} A Celebration of Wishes Part I

Wowsers!  I haven’t blogged since September 1st?!  I knew it had been a little while since I used type to express myself or share what was happening in our world, but I had no idea that it had been 9 days.  I would love to tell you that since my last post the Mr., Little Miss and I went on a relaxing vacation during which we frolicked in the sand or that I spent my final days of summer treasure hunting in antique shops while enjoying some of my favorite treats such as frozen yogurt and popsicles (and my summer nights enjoying MORE of my favorite treats) but this was not the case.  While I did have a couple encounters with frozen yogurt and did do some frolicking this week, my absence was simply because I was exhausted.  I had spent the entire (thankfully long) weekend preparing for the most magical Monday – a  Celebration of Wishes in honor of our little Miss’ wish to be a Briscoe just like her daddy coming true.  We spent the day with family and friends (I also spent much of the day running around frantically which I’ve been told that comes with hosting) celebrating the fact that wishes do come true and that prayers are in fact answered.  And the Little Miss, well, she spent the day smiling, laughing, striking poses and enjoying every moment of this special celebration making it crystal clear that every moment of lost sleep, every paper cut, every trip to Michael’s and Joann’s and every minute and ounce of energy spent was worth it.

And so my lovelies,  today I am delighted to share some photos of our celebration and am especially proud as we made just about everything by hand.  You may not know this about me but I love planning parties (mostly the décor, all the other logistics not so much) and tend to make or put together most of my own decorations.  I’m a sucker for a great template, some scrapbook paper, ribbon and glue.  I am hoping to post some past parties at some point but in the meantime I’m excited to share with you this one as it is symbolic of such a special time in our lives.

While I ended up running out of time to do some of the things I wanted to do and decided to cut out a couple unnecessary (but pretty) projects and purchases in an attempt to sleep more and spend more wisely all of us who pieced this party together almost entirely by hand were so happy with how things turned out and received such kind compliments from our guests.  I am so thankful to my bestest Karen who helped me plan everything and just like me made multiple trips to  Michael’s and spent countless hours online looking up ideas.  I am also thankful that she along with my aunt and mother sat up for hours with me making and finishing up the décor.

On the day of the celebration we again experienced an outpouring of love, generosity and helpful hands.  What started off as Karen and I in the kitchen trying to finish up making our sweets (our plan was to do it the night before but we never quite got to it) ended in my mother-in-law, my friend Connie, and my mother helping us decorate, dip and icing our yummies.  Occasionally, I bite off more than I can chew.  I mean in the end I do chew it; fortunately sometimes with help but I’ll admit it doesn’t always go down quite so easy. So a special thank you to Connie talking me out of some last minute details that could have been tragic (I had big plans for that red velvet cake but little did I know the cream cheese icing would melt.).

Of course the outpouring of help and generosity didn’t stop there.  We had friends and family volunteer to make delicious food, share decorative pieces (such as vases, platters and a carriage), help set up and clean up, take care of the children, take pictures and take out the trash. Everyone did everything they could to help make it such a beautiful day – everything I had envisioned and more.  I always talk about my heart being a grateful one and it’s moments like these that cause the gratitude and tears to overflow.

Our family has been blessed.  My daughter has been blessed to grow up being surrounded by so much love even long before our Prince Charming had arrived and after as our immediate family grew from 2 (she and I) to 3 the love she received also grew as many of Chris’ family and friends made the decision to open their hearts to give and receive such a sweet {most of the time} little love.

Ok! Back to the pictures.  I promised myself this would not be a tearful (happy tears) post.  I had already expressed my appreciation, gratitude and thanks to everyone who helped make it such a beautiful day but you can never give enough thanks so again to those of you who were there Monday and so many days before that–I thank you.  Thank you for being there for us and more importantly, for our little one.  God has blessed her with her heart’s desire and my heart rejoices because she will go through life experiencing the love of a father and Chris will go through life experiencing the love of a child.

{Sweet wishes.  A dessert table complete with gummy frog princes.}

{Mini “JB” cupcakes from Uncle Tony courtesy of  Paisley Bakery}

{Yay for princes!  Prior to the festivities guests shared their childhood and grown up wishes which were placed on stars in the entry way*}

 {“Princesses who had their wishes come true.”  Initially I wanted to use frames but having done so at several parties the cost of spray paint alone causes such a project to add up leaving less money for sweets:).  Instead I printed bright colorful photos found on the internet, taped them to the wall and added sparkly stars.  And we all know what happens “when you wish upon a star.  Don’t we?”}

{Engraved carriage snow globe from Tia Karen.  Photo selected by daddy.}

{Decorating princess wands}

{J.B.}

{cupcake decorating}

{The Royal Court}

{Hip Hip Hooray!}

{So stylish!}

{little kisses}

{Proud parents. Thinking about how much we love our daughter.}

 As you can see it was a beautiful {and HOT!} day filled with love and happiness.

I will be back soon to share some wishes made by our guests as well as sources for some of the items  used for our celebration.  Have a lovely rest of the weekend.  xo.

*Staying up into the wee hours of the morning is not conducive to wish transcribing.  I apologize for those 2 of you whose wishes that were not edited correctly.