Tuesday, October 22, 2024

A Surprise, A Market, and A Cake

Hello! I found a work-around for getting my pictures from my phone to the laptop, woohoo! I hope you've all had a good week so far, even if you had to improvise.

Diana flew in late Friday night on the 11th. Beth doesn't always respond well to surprises, she's slow to react, slow to say anything, so the surprise usually doesn't have the impact you'd hope for. So after Chuck left to get Diana from the airport, I asked Beth to come upstairs. We sat down at the kitchen table (which has a big window looking out to the front yard) and I told her we had a surprise for her birthday. Because she was turning 40 we wanted Diana to celebrate with us so she just landed at the airport and dad went to pick her up!

Beth has a thing she does when she's shocked at something, where she'll quickly turn her head a few inches, raise her eyebrows and form the word Oh with her mouth. That means she's extremely excited about whatever she's just heard! And that's what she did! We sat at the kitchen table for about an hour waiting for them and when Diana came inside Beth was so excited to see her! 


We sat up until 2AM talking then we dragged ourselves to bed. Diana and I were up early the next morning and she dropped me off at the Holiday Market so she could use my car for the day. 

I'd been preparing for this market since January. And even though I was bummed it was on the weekend of the girls birthdays, it was being held at our church so I knew I would know some of the other vendors. I was looking forward to spending the day with friends and checking out their tables. I used the only tablecloth I had that was big enough but wasn't happy with the way it looked. 


Right before we opened I remembered I had a solid black one at my desk so I ran upstairs and was able to switch them out. Thankfully the people next to me also had a black tablecloth so mine didn't seem out of place. Next year I'll buy a different one specifically to use for the market.  


I sold 30 cards, not too bad for my first time. Plus I had a friend text and ask if she could buy more. And a few people said they would love to frame the photos so I'm going to try that next year too. Instead of putting them all on cards, I'll put some photos in stand-up frames and see how that goes.

Diana picked me up after the market and we all headed out to celebrate Sharaya's birthday. We've always let the girls choose a restaurant on their birthday and she chose Brix. I had never heard of it before but it's one she's wanted to try. 




I had the ravioli and it was so good! And there was a lot of it. Chuck and I brought some of ours home. It was dusk when we left and there were lights in the trees, it was so pretty out! So I asked if we could take some pictures. Our girls. The only one missing was Adelaide. She was at home in Pennsylvania with daddy.

Diana, Allison, (Sharaya's daughter) Beth, Sharaya


Have I ever shown you how to pronounce Sharaya's name? It's Shuh (as in shove) ray (like ray of sunshine) uh (again as in shove.) Sharaya. We were going to name her Sarah but then heard Amy Grant's Unguarded album. On it she sings a song to her friend named Sharayah. The spelling seemed long to us so we dropped the h. When she was a baby Beth couldn't say her name so we called her Raya. Then when she started Kindergarten she asked us to start calling her Shara. Then I think in high school she starting going by Sharaya. I think she's had a love/hate relationship with it over the years. But we've always loved it. And her. 😊

After dinner we came back to our house for presents and cake. We always do gifts first, then have the cake. She had seen this cake on-line so Chuck took the photo to our local bakery and it turned out really nice! 



Afterward Sharaya and Diana went out for a while so Ally and I played cards. Uno. That girl is strategic when it comes to cards, oh my word! I think she won both games! We laughed a lot though. I love hanging out with her.

I'll save Beth's party for another post. It was a very full day and we were all exhausted by the end of the weekend. 

How do you party? Do you have cake first or open presents? 
Have a wonderful day!

5 comments:

Terri D said...

Your girls are all so beautiful and that comes from inside and bursts out like sunshine!! I look forward to Beth's birthday celebration!! Your photo cards were a hit!! Frames for some is a great idea. Sometimes cards are so pretty, I hate to send them off! Thanks for sharing the fun with us!!

ellen b. said...

Is that the Brix in Kirkland or have they opened another one? What a great weekend of celebrating. Good idea to give Beth the heads up about the surprise. Such a good switch on that tablecloth. Black really lets your work pop better! The cake is amazing!!

R's Rue said...

So much fun.
www.rsrue.blogspot.com

Preppy Empty Nester said...

What a beautiful celebration and such a sweet surprise!! Love the pics of the girls! I wish I had a piece of that gorgeous cake. And I'm glad that you had a prosperous day at the Market. xx

onceuponatimehappilyeverafter.com said...

That cake is so pretty. Glad you could replicate the one Sharaya had seen. Sounds like a great weekend. So proud of you to sell so many cards. I think some simple black frames would showcase them well for next year and maybe even those magnetic acrylic frames you can put on the frig? I like the way the black tablecloth shows off your pretty things. Good switch!!
So glad all of your girls could be together (minus little Adelaide).