March 31, 2006
Casey and Maria’s Bridal Shower
This week’s journal entry will mostly be told through pictures. My step dad, Roy, brother, Casey, and his fiancé, Maria, came to town last weekend because my mom, Clancy, and I threw Maria a bridal shower at my house. We filled up every minute they were here with family fun. I realized that I feel the most deep contentment and joy whenever I am with my family. It was heaven on earth for me this weekend.
The first thing we did after they arrived was pull out my mom’s new Panini sandwich maker and the Monopoly game. We spent all evening laughing, eating and cheating. Unfortunately, about halfway through the game, just about the time I finally had my three favorite “Orange” properties, Clancy and I had to leave to go get the house decorated for the shower the next day.
My dear friend, Missy, came over and spent hours helping us decorate the tables and everything. She even made the big stagecoach centerpiece for me. Another friend, Bridget, had a bunch of leftover western decorations from her son’s birthday party so we had plenty of great things to use. My mom ordered fresh bluebonnet (the Texas state flower) centerpieces for each table and they really brought the whole theme together.
Clancy and I were in charge of the games (we played Bridal Pictionary) and decorations (even the party favors) and my mom was in charge of the food. She really outdid herself. We are still eating leftovers! We had a table full of appetizers. There were chips and two kinds of salsa. One for Texans (hot) and one for Wannabe Texans (mild.) We also tiny cowboy hats filled with “chicken feed” (chex mix) scattered throughout the room. We were supposed to have queso dip but, first, Clancy put the Costco-size can of chili in the crock pot and then I forgot to turn it on. Either way, the Children of Israel could have made bricks out of it.
My mom bought all kinds of delicious bottled drinks like IBC Root Beer, Crème Soda, Ginger Beer, Cherry Soda, Orange Cremes, Grape Crush, etc. We also bought some Sweet Tea and “Yankee” Tea (unsweet) from our favorite restaurant, Chick-fil-a. Then we served the drinks in real Mason jars.
The buffet spread was unbelievable. My mom bought the fried chicken and chicken fried steak from a famous restaurant in the area called, Babe’s.” She also served mashed potatoes, gravy, creamed corn, and buttermilk biscuits. And if that wasn’t enough, she made homemade Mexican cornbread, cowboy beans, and Buffalo Chip cookies.
Which brings us to the Dessert station. In addition to the delicious, giant, cookies, my mom ordered a cheesecake in the shape of Texas, Italian “Wedding Cake-flavored” ice cream, and the Motherlode cake which she had shipped to us from a restaurant in California. (Are you getting the picture that her “baby,” Casey, is spoiled rotten by all of us?)
Really, this wasn’t all about “our little prince.” We love his little princess, Maria! The whole family really wanted to express our adoration for her and give her a giant Texas welcome to the family. Everyone in the family showed up and truly showered them with gifts and love.
The fun didn’t end there. The next day we met my other brother, Cody, and his family at Joe T. Garcia’s Mexican restaurant and then on to a few laps of go-karting. We were all sore the next day. I don’t know if it was from the intense competition or from the belly laughs.
I can’t wait for the next week of family fun in eight weeks – for THE WEDDING!
Posted by weblion at 08:02 PM
