Celebrating Melia - 6/7 Party

 We love to celebrate Melia. We find little ways to celebrate like drinks on the 1st of each month to celebrate our "got ya" date, and gifts for A's.... We realize celebrations haven't been the norm for her, and they speak to her.  As July 1st approached and her time of being with us for 6 months approached she asked if we could have a party. We agreed - but the month was CRAZY and so we asked about maybe celebrating her 6th and 7th month with a big party on August 1st? She agreed. 

And thus, a theme was formed - Melia's 6 7 party! LOL   We filled a pinata with candy free prizes, we bought goody bags, balloons, bracelets, tattoos, plates etc, tablecloths, a pinata and a photo backdrop with the appropriate number of months we were celebrating - 6 and 7. 

We invited family, past guardians, family friends and Melia's sisters and their foster families to join us. In the end we had a pretty good crowd, though we missed those who couldn't make it.  We did have a blast. We were especially thankful to Erik and Ingrid for picking up Melia's sisters and bringing them out. 

In this picture, Jared, Arielle - their kids, Bre's kids
Nolan, Stacia, Mike & Me
Melia and her sisters

Jared manned the pinata. He did a masterful job keeping it from being split open until everyone had a couple of swings at it! The company sent the cute blindfold and wand - we brought out a baseball bat for the second round. 

Melia

Annie

Trudy

Alena

Bella

Benny

Gideon

Noah removed the blindfold so he could see. 

Josiah

Danny

Akemi

We couldn't have asked for a better day for a party! The outside plan was far better than the inside plan. It was 82 degrees at our home. Melia made a pineapple upside down cake, I made brownie bites, Akemi made jelly filled DOUGHNUTS (maybe Malasadas? Awfully close if not.) and Alena brought a Guava cake. Dessert was well covered. We also had fruit, veggies, meat and cheese, deviled eggs, pigs in a blanket, bagel bites and pizza rolls. 

Melia spent hours figuring out how to put up the volleyball/badminton net (Michael helped with the finishing touches of the project). 

Guess who blew up all those balloons? 

Ellie and Papap

The photo background and props were a hit! 

Erik and Ingrid (far right below) were the girls' first guardians when their father was injured. Ingrid has been friends with their Auntie since high school and attends ACF, our church. They were the ones who contacted us back in November about providing a forever home for a teen girl.  How thankful we are that they did! 

::snort:: Ellie has the general idea! LOL 

Our out of Valley guests had left, the local grandblessings were playing in the yard, I was picking up plates and trash, when we noticed two uninvited guests in the garden! I SWEAR we are known as the Buffet place to be! 

Bre sent this photo of the kids having a glow stick party at home later in the evening. 

It was a great day to be together, and it was fun to remember and celebrate all that has happened in the 7 months since Melia moved into our family. 

Taking School on the Road

This is the only picture I took of the day - but it tells the story of our day! Melia learned one of the big pros of homeschooling as we took school on the road. 

Michael is still ill, but we needed to run some errands in Anchorage and so Melia and I went in. I told her we could use my phone as a hotspot if needed. 

 She knocked it out of the park. She schooled while we waited, we broke for socializing, and she schooled while we waited a bit more. She finished it all and made great grades on the daily work! 

Our highlight was meeting up with the foster family where Melia's sisters are living. It was fun for the the three girls to connect. They exchanged Valentine's gifts. I enjoyed visiting with Christine. We enjoyed a Subway lunch.

Melia and I spent a couple of more hours in Anchorage and on the way home... 

Knowing Michael was ill and neither of us wanted to cook we stopped at a local restaurant for a salad for me and wings for Melia. We topped the evening off with a trip through the car wash. We thought we'd find Stacia at home, but she was still at school. It turns out we had forgotten Sibling Game night. 

Next week we will remember....