Weekend Fun

This past weekend was extremely fun and eventful for the Ballam/Blairs.  My little brother Ben received his mission call to serve at the PCC in Hawaii a few weeks ago, and we had the opportunity to go with him to the temple on Saturday.  It was such a great experience, especially since most of my siblings were able to attend.  We had a nice lunch in the temple cafeteria afterwards.

Sunday was another great day.  My sisters and I had been planning an anniversary party for my parents for a few weeks since they celebrated their 40th this year!  We felt bad that we hadn't really done much to acknowledge their anniversary in the past and thought we'd better not overlook such a milestone this year!  We planned it as a surprise and told them to meet us all at Ester's house to have family pictures.  They had NO idea they would be going to a party for them!  It was so fun to see their reactions!

I spent the last week sneakily making a little video of pictures of my parents to show at the party.  It was almost impossible to find photos of their wedding at their house, so I borrowed a few photo albums from my grandma.  (Sidenote: My uncle, who was supposed to take photos at my parents wedding forgot to put film in the camera, so mostly all of their photos are staged post-honeymoon) We watched the video together.

We took some family photos at Merlin Olsen Park, across the street from Ester's.  Here are a couple un-edited takes.

After the party we went to a blessing for my new nephew, Grant Nicholas.  It was such a sweet blessing and so fun to visit with my family and the Packham family. Ester especially enjoyed the fruit pizzas.

This week has been full of rehearsing, basketball games and watching Nick and John play NBA Jam (the reason I am up so late blogging)  Love having family in town!