Goodbye Party

If you haven’t noticed by now, we’re pretty sad Steve and Carrie are leaving. They’ve lived here for the last six years and went through a similar PhD program as Ben (Steve did Materials Science, another type of engineering degree). Carrie and I were in the Primary together and when I was nannying, her kids and the kids I nannied for were close in age, so we got together often for playdates. Carrie and Steve are some of our best friends and they’ll be missed!

Last night we hosted a goodbye party for the Christensen’s. There were 70 adults and 45 kids inside our house and out in the back yard. Somehow we all fit just fine and it was really fun! I’m glad there was such a great turnout of friends coming to say goodbye. We had the party right after church, which explains why some people are all dressed up – I’d say about half changed and half were still in church clothes.

Carrie and Sam:

Bishop Downs and Steve:

 

Marlee, Sam, and Alex:

The fun, beautiful teenage girls – Grace (in the red), Lauren, Emma, Lucy, and Mallory

My family came to help (especially with the kids). Here’s Gram enjoying Keenan playing the ukelele:

I picked up some fun lanterns and made the red poofy decoration and hung them from the pergola:

 
We borrowed a ton of chairs from friends and neighbors – it was nice to have a lot of seating in and out. We had food inside and outside too, and asked everyone to bring a dessert or appetizer to share.
Here’s Khania and Rachel (Rachel took all of the photos at the party since I was busy running around the whole time):
There is no way things would have gone smoothly with my kids if we hadn’t had help--my dad was in charge of watching Eli (and even took him on a walk after he started to get a little overwhelmed with the party) and my mom had Charlie. This picture was taken after he ate some baby food, so his little overalls were pulled off by this point, revealing his juicy thighs :)
 

And one fun highlight of the evening was that our friend Mark helped us rearrange our living room! He has a great eye for decorating and it was so nice to have him give us ideas and help move things around. Before, the couch was along the wall where the piano is and the chairs were on opposite sides with the ottoman in the middle. The piano was to the right of the fireplace. I think the new setup feels more cozy and better for conversation. Carrie played a Chopin piece and Beethoven piece and it was beautiful. Eli was in awe of her music since Ben and I basically just play with our right hand. Hopefully we’ll get better and remember how to play the piano with some practice since we both took lessons growing up.