farewell sunday...part 3

The afternoon/evening open house was just as simple to prepare for, for me, as the morning had been.   I had debated for weeks about what to do about this.  Traditionally, families just host the brunch, but I knew that we were going to have such a huge family/closest friends crowd in the morning, I felt like we should invited others later in the day.  There were a few extenuating circumstances that prompted this and we needed to make sure to include all.  SO.  An open house it was.  I debated on popcorn bar, cookie bar, candy bar and decided to go with cookies.  They freeze and keep and who doesn't want cookies, right?

So, all week long, Grace and Zee had been preparing cookie dough and Zee spend all day Saturday baking them while Grace worked a double shift on her job.   Also, several wonderful friends offered to bake and bring cookies over, which was just plain awesome! 

So, in the afternoon, after naps and Liza leaving,  I literally had to put out napkins, have the kids refill the cooler with pop and water and we also had a dispenser of milk.  They took down all of the tables and chairs and we planned for the open house in the den.  It was really a good decision because the temperature dropped by about 20 degrees!  It got cool outside!  We turned off the air-conditioner and had to close the windows back up because it was si much cooler outside! ( I literally wore jammies, socks and added a blanket last night to the bed.  IN JULY!?!?!)

At 4:50 our first friends arrived and our last left at 10:40.  There was never a lull in the evening, as friends dropped by from both wards and older wards and from business acquaintances to family, old neighbors, teachers and friends, we had a house full all evening.  It was wonderful! 
 

We had cookies, cookies and more cookies.  And I do mean we had cookies!  14 kinds of cookies and every single one of them was delectible!

 

And we had friends.  Friends, friends and more friends.  And I wish that I'd have had the time to photograph everyone who came, but with that many people, we were dividing and conquering and trying to let everyone know how much we appreciated their support.  Quayd's favorite bishop ever, Dave Anderson and his wife, Trish, my dear friend and their son, Chase, who Quayd has known since he was a little cub scout.  Quayd's favorite teacher from elementary school came... "Miss Patty"... she's not LDS, she's not taught school for years but she was here and I kid you not, Quayd's feet literally touched the ground about three times from the den to the front sidewalk when he saw her.  It made his night that she would be here.  Doug's Aunt Kay and Uncle Jim drove up from Ogden, Quayd adores them both!  Quayd's old YM leader and previous bishop and his wife who's one of my favorite ladies.  (They were the only ones who got a house tour and they got to see Quayd's still unmade bed.  He'd not been back down to his room since before church.  That's a first in my 39 years of owning a home... so that means they are real friends!) My friends, Doug's friends, Quayd's friends. old Smithfiled ward members, new Logan ward members.  It was awesome!

 Another highlight of the evening for Quayd was when these three boys could talk together.  This is Austin and Elliot, who are both leaving for their missions soon.  These three boys attended Aaronic Priesthood Training Camp together last summer.  That was the week long camp experience that sealed the deal for Quayd's decision to serve a mission as soon as possible.  These two boys are truly heroes in Quayd's eyes.  I was thrilled that they took the time to visit and I loved watching them interact!  Here's three champions, for sure!

The last few guests to come were friends, Phil and Julie with their kids and then Jim and Kristy Anderson, two of our oldest and closest friends.  We sat around and visited until ten, then Jim and Kristy stayed even later. (We never want them to leave!) By the time the Estes family left, everyone was friends!  It's amazing to me that people who don't even know each other, but, who have the gospel as the central part of their lives, in common, it's like an immediate bond.  What a blessing!  We laughed until we were in tears several times together.  We barely knew Phil and Julie in Smithfield, but there was something about them that we loved so much and they were two of our favorite people when we left.  So, this evening, this long late visit was just choice, in getting to know them.  There will definitely be more of Phil and Julie in our life!

We loved every minute of the evening!  Clean-up was simple and quick.  We'd added even more diet coke to the cooler.  There were no juices, no cokes left.  A few bottles of water to be refridgerated and cookies to be bagged then we called it a night. AND. WE. SLEPT. WELL!!!! 

What a blessing to have so many wonderful influences in our children's lives.  I climbed into bed and couldn't thank Heavenly Father enough.  I can't stop thinking about this... I can't stop counting the blessings of friends and family... it takes a village and what a village we have been given!  As guests came through our home all day and evening, Doug and I both were just overwhelmed with gratitude.  We'd look at one and think, "He taught Quayd this" and the next, "They taught Quayd that" and with each one, we can look at Quayd are recognize their influence. We can remember instances that were "aha moments" for Quayd, brought about by their teaching and examples.  It's not just about friendship.  It's about being part of that village for each other!  I hope and pray that I've been able to be an influence on someone else's son or daughter in the same way that others have blessed ours!  Oh my gosh, we are blessed!!!  Life is so so good!