Other Happy Happenings

The month of April was extremely busy and eventful!

Jade had an Easter party at school where they wore bunny ears and colored hollow eggs.  I was impressed that she got it home in one piece!

   

Easter weekend was actually when our area watched General Conference, so we had a lovely day at home together as a family.  I decided I love when General Conference lands on Easter; it is a great way to focus the day on the Savior and His gospel.  Nothing brings the spirit into the home like listening to the prophets and apostles all weekend! 

Jade also loved hunting for Easter eggs and candy, coloring eggs, and all those other secular things we do to celebrate Spring’s arrival.  Personally, I enjoyed the ham and funeral potatoes.  :)

 

 

Betsey and I threw a baby shower for our good friend, Michelle. 

She is having a boy and is decorating his room with elephants in navy, white, blue, and yellow.  I saw the room last week and it is adorable!!  We decided to use the same theme for her shower.  {I am loving Photoshop!}

     

Lily was so nice to take Ridge so I could help with the shower.  I think Ridge was happy to sneak in a nap. 

We are so excited for Michelle and can’t wait to meet little Mr. Wright in a few weeks!!

 

About two or so months ago I was called as the Relief Society counselor over the additional meetings.  For the record, pretty much every other lady in our branch is more qualified than I am.  I suppose that’s why I was called:  I have much more to learn than everyone else!  I feel so privileged to associate with the incredible women in our branch.  Around the same time my friend, Shanna, was called as the Relief Society Meeting Coordinator.  We were so excited to be working together, and I couldn't be more grateful to have such a talented gal to serve with.  Seriously, she’s amazing. 

Our first activity was the Relief Society Birthday party.  Although it is typically held in March, we postponed until April since we had both just been put in and needed some planning time.  We decided to have High Tea (using peppermint tea) with a program about the history and purposes of Relief Society.  It turned out lovely.

The COO of Marriott Asia is in our branch, and he was generous enough to let us borrow the Ritz-Carlton’s silver tiered trays for the evening. They gave the tables an extra special touch.

Originally we asked sisters to bring tea sets to use on the tables. Wouldn’t you know, no one seemed to own any!! I guess we shouldn’t be too surprised by that. We ended up buying several beautiful Chinese sets from the market and gave them away as prizes at the end of the evening.

My personal favorite was the winner of the vintage award, Sister Clark.

We had a great turn out of about 40-45 women, and most of them came dressed in their high tea attire, i.e. hats and dresses.

I’m so grateful for the fun and supportive ladies in our branch, as well as Shanna and our committee for making it such a great evening!

 

Towards the end of April, I had a couple spontaneous, but much welcomed, visitors:  Erin and Scarlett.  My friend Erin lives in Taiwan and had to make a quick trip to HK to renew her visa.  I know the whole thing was a big pain for her, but I was glad to be able to spend several hours with her and snap a few pictures of her cute girl with my boy.  They are about two months apart.  We’re not going to push ‘em into it or anything, but if they just happen to get married, we wouldn’t mind.  I mean, c’mon, aren’t they so cute together!!!

    

 

Jade’s school also had their Sports Day at the end of April. 

At the start the teacher told Jade’s group to run over to their first event, but they didn’t know where to stop! They just kept running, and running, and running… until the teacher finally had to run them down and bring them back. It was pretty funny!

They had lots of games and relays set up around the track at the Wan Chai Sports Ground.

Each time the kids finished an event, they received a sticker in their “passport.”  Jade thought that was pretty cool. 

Even parents got to participate in some of the events!

The school had a professional photographer there; here are some of the cute shots he took of Jade—and even Ridge!

At the end of the relays, all the kids received a [plastic] medal and a goodie bag.  This is Jade with her best friend at school, Remi. 

Remi’s sister, Clio (probably around 2 years old), was also at Sports Day running around with the “big” kids.  She received a grab bag at the end too, but was really sad when she discovered her bag didn’t have a lollipop in it like a lot of the other kids.  She started to cry that she wanted a lollipop.  Without being prompted, Jade grabbed hers out of her bag, went over to Clio, handed it to her and said, “you can have mine.”  Jade is such a sweet and thoughtful girl.  She made me so proud that morning!  I made sure she knew it by giving her lots of praise, hugs, and a popsicle!