Thoughts on Bridal Shower #1

Yesterday I had the privilege of being the Guest of Honor at my first bridal shower! I say "first" because I am having another bridal shower this Wednesday evening.

The shower was small-- a few co-workers and a couple of friends and family, but we had a great time. My cousin, Laura, is an awesome Maid of Honor! We played 3 games and the house was decorated in purple and pink--our wedding colors.

My grandma, Elinor who is 92, got to meet her 3-month old great-granddaughter, Angelique, for the first time. Seeing her with the little ones are always treasured moments.

Alexander, my 2-year old nephew, who is being very TWO these days, had a fun time with Cassidy, Laura's daughter. After the shower they watched Curious George on the computer, played with the hose outside, dropped a bouncy ball from the top of the staircase a bunch of times, and then sat on the sofa in the living room looking at books. It was wonderful to see them bond like that. Cassidy has waited a long time for a little cousin to come along that she can play with!
All in all, it was a very fun time. Great friends, food, and time with family. Even though the shower ended at 3:30pm, my mom, Xander, and I ended up staying until 8pm. Laura and I always have catching up to do, my mom chatted with her sister, and the kids played and played. I'm glad the little ones had a lot of time together, because I need Xander to trust Cassidy when she holds his hand to walk down the aisle at my wedding in 2 weeks! They are my flower girl and ring bearer!

It was a little weird for me being the center of all that attention. I'm not used to being the guest of honor at parties. I'm usually the hostess of one of the guests. But I liked it!

After all of my friends left and it was just us family remaining, we did comment on how much we felt my other grandma's absence. At the reception we are going to have a small "memorial" table with my grandparents' pictures. They were always at every special event and it had always been my wish for my grandpa to walk me down the aisle. This is the least we can do to honor them at such an important occasion.

And...we have had some updates on the house Eric and I are trying to buy in WA:

1. Eric's house was inspected last Wednesday. We are waiting for the results.
2. The house we want will be inspected tomorrow.
3. Eric will meet with a mortgage lender tomorrow to discuss the upcoming loan.
4. The owners of the house we want will be having a big yard sale in 2 weeks. We're going to try and buy a few things, especially to furnish (or to keep furnished) that massive subterranean family room.

We love this room! It is enormous! Even that crazy carpeting is starting to grow on me.

Fortunately, as far as gifts, most people have given us very practical things, like gift cards. In our situation--trying to merge 2 houses together, move one house's belongings 1000 miles--they really come in handy.

We are feeling like things are coming together in their own way. The progress with both houses is running parallel right now. Mine is still in the paperwork stages of renting. But, overall, things are moving forward and we are feeling very blessed.