Category: My Family

Elizabeth’s Bridal Shower

So the reason I have neglected my beloved blog this past week is because I’ve been super busy preparing for Elizabeth’s bridal shower.  This was the first shower I had ever hosted, and I wanted it to be perfect!  I spent 3 days making and decorating sugar cookies, cleaning, and baking cakes and cake pops.  And let me tell you, cleaning up after 2 Saint Bernards and 3 cats is no easy task.  The cats are actually pretty easy to clean up after.  They just leave cat hair that can easily be wiped or vacuumed up.  The dogs, however, manage to fling their drool all over the house, including the walls, ceiling, floor, couch, doors, windows, counter, bed…..I think you get the point.  But let me tell you, Mr. Clean Magic Erasers are AMAZING!!!  I don’t know how they do it, but they get even the toughest drool spots clean.  I think I’m going to need to buy them in bulk.

I set up the tables and chairs in our living room, which fortunately, after almost a year of living here, we still haven’t put any furniture in.  So set up was easy since I didn’t have to move any furniture out to make room for the tables.

We had exactly enough chairs for everyone, which was incredible since I only got a few RSVPs.  Having enough places for people to sit was one of my main stresses before the shower.

Here’s the food table.  Fortunately the other 2 bridesmaids were wonderful enough to bring the food dishes, and I only had to worry about the dessert.  That took so much stress off me.  So thank you Jen and Krista!

Elizabeth and I went to Kroger about an hour before the shower was supposed to start and bought some flowers to put on the tables.  And instead of buying perfectly fresh roses for $20, I found some that were a couple days old on sale for $4.99 and $7.99.  I also bought some candles and put them in gift bags for each lady to take home with them.

Here everyone is hanging out in the kitchen before we ate lunch.

Elizabeth sneaking a cookie before lunch. 🙂

Here’s the view from our cat walk above the living room.

Wedding themed sugar cookies that I made.

The dessert section!  Strawberry cake, cake pops, and sugar cookies.

Here’s what the inside of the cake looked like.  I added a white cake layer in between the 2 strawberry layers just to make things interesting.

Such a pretty lady.  She’s going to make a beautiful bride!

We started by eating the lovely lunch that Jen and Krista (seated) provided.

Elizabeth is telling a story, that I can’t remember…..

But I remember that it was funny, because Jenni and Cheryl are laughing.

Then we played a game where I asked questions about Elizabeth and Rustin and whoever got the most answers right got a prize.

Then we played a game where each team wrapped a girl (Elizabeth and Rustin’s little sister, Sam) in toilet paper.  And whoever looked the most like a bride won a prize.

It was a close one, but Sam ended up winning.

Elizabeth enjoyed the cake pops. 🙂

Present time!!!

This bag had a TON of tissue paper in it, so luckily when she tossed it in the air I had my camera pointed right at her and captured the moment. 🙂

This was a hilarious moment!  This gift was from Lindsey, who apparently didn’t have many greeting cards at home….

So she gave Elizabeth a “thank you” card…..

…and wrote “Thank you for getting married and inviting me to your shower.”  She said the only other card she had was a sympathy card.  We were cracking up so much we needed lotion.  Bahaha!!!  I know, I should have been a comedian.

She loved her new Keurig coffee maker!  It’s great!  I have one!

Cheryl, our Sunday School teacher’s wife and the leader of our weekly Bible study gave a wonderful devotional on how to be a godly wife.

Afterward, she gave Elizabeth this beautiful painting she did titled “The Art of Marriage” listing all her talking points from the devotional.  What a wonderful gift!

Bride and maid of honor!

We had pins with our titles on them.  When she hosts my bridal shower in a couple months, we’ll switch pins.  🙂

Here’s the whole gang!  We had a great time, and now I can go back to relaxing!

Dad’s 70th Birthday!

Martin (Butch) Pentland is the best man I know, and last Thursday (April 21) he turned 70!  My dad was born in 1941, the year that Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese.  He was a teenager during the 1950s, and to this day, one of his favorite cars is the ’57 Chevy Bel Air.  He actually had a black one up until a few years ago.  He used to drive it in my high school parade on homecoming day.

Here we are together on Easter Sunday 1992.  I was 6 years old in this photo.  And I’m loving my big bow!

Here we are a few years later getting ready to leave for the Father/Daughter Banquet my school held every year.  And as you can see, another big bow.  Thanks, Mom!

This was before the Father/Daughter Banquet when I was in 6th grade (1997).  My dad battled colorectal cancer this year and couldn’t take me to the banquet, so my good friend’s dad, Jeff Brown, took me with them.  That was a scary year for us.  My dad was in the hospital for several weeks, and I had to stay with different friends for months at a time.  But thank the Lord, he pulled through, and his cancer has been in remission for 14 years.

And he was there to take me to the banquet the next year. 🙂

My dad became a contractor at the age of 16, and I don’t think there is anything about construction that he doesn’t know.  He has been very helpful whenever Steve and I have questions about our rental rehab.  He built the house that I grew up in, and still does some jobs for friends.  Construction is what he knows and what he loves, and I’ve never met someone that was better at it than him.

Here he is with my mom, wearing the sweatshirts I bought them when I visited last year.

My dad had helped build a beach house for some friends, and we went to see it that day, but it was SUPER windy, and sand was blowing everywhere.  I braved the elements for this picture but most of the time we all looked like my dad.

See?

I love you, Daddy!  And I hope you had a wonderful birthday!  You’re an amazing man, and I’m so proud to have you as a father.  I can’t wait to have you walk me down the aisle in less than 3 months!

Love your daughter,

Joanna   XOXO

Happy 17th Birthday, Ashley!

One positive about being the youngest sibling, BY FAR (the next closest sibling to me in age is 11 years older) is that my nieces are somewhat close to my age.  Yesterday, my niece, Ashley, turned 17 years old.  I still can’t believe it!

I remember very vividly when she looked like this.  I believe this is her 2nd birthday, and from the looks of it, she is really enjoying that cake!  The funny thing about Ashley and her 2 sisters is that they all have different hair colors.  Nicole, the oldest has light blonde hair.  Ashley, as you can see, has dark brown hair.  And Alyssa, the youngest, has beautiful red hair.

Here we are rubbing each other’s shoulders after my brother Erik (in red) finished his first LA Marathon.  I think this picture was taken about 8 or 9 years ago.  It’s funny that my mom (left), my sister-in-law Stacey (middle), and I are all at least 15 pounds lighter now than when this picture was taken.  My mom is actually more like 30 pounds lighter.  She amazes me!  Stacey amazes me too with her Bar Method body!  She is in the best shape of her life.  I’m working on it….I have a wedding dress to look good in!

Ashley has always loved hanging out with the “older” girls, and I can specifically remember one instance when I was babysitting her and a couple of her friends.  I drove them to get some lunch at McDonalds, and I heard Ashley say to her friend, “Isn’t my aunt the coolest?”  That made me feel so special.  Especially as a 17 year old, myself.

And now Ashley is 17!  My how the time flies!

Ashley, you’ve grown into such a beautiful young lady!  I hope you had an amazing birthday!  Keep blessing people with your smile and sweet spirit.  Love you, girl!

~Aunt Joanna