Jaiden's Bridal Shower

Today we had Jaiden's bridal shower! We had it at Shane and Alicia's house and everything went really well! Alicia did the decorations, which turned out really nice. She had cute little jars with yellow rose buds and baby's breath and a cute bouquet of baby's breath and greenery. Since the shower was BEE-themed "Jaiden found her honey," and "Bride to BEE," I thought it would be fun to get little honey jars for party favors. Jenna's friend, Anna Ence, has a little bee business where they harvest their own honey and so I ordered the cute bears from them. I ordered cute little bee-themed thank you stickers to add to the lids of the bears and added the rest of the stickers to mini recess peanut butter cups. 

The girls and I picked up all of the food at Costco (and Walmart) the night before. We had chicken salad on croissants, yummy brazilian cheese rolls that Jen made, watermelon, grapes, strawberries, veggie trays, chips, and tuxedo cake and cheese cake for dessert. I was going to go to Trader Joe's to get gluten free cookies while we were in Orem, but we ran out of time. Costco only had three containers of chicken salad and I wanted four and so we ran to Walmart and I picked up a couple more there and ended up liking theirs better than Costcos.  

Funny story: An hour before the shower my mom said that someone posted on their Relief Society GroupMe asking if anyone wanted a balloon arch that they were finished using. She showed me the picture and it was light blue and light yellow -- Jaiden's wedding colors! The timing was absolutely perfect!! We said we were interested and the girls walked down and carried it to the house and set it up. It looked so cute and was the absolute perfect touch for the shower!  

We had a great turn out at the shower. There were several from Jason's family too. I was able to meet two of his sisters and several of his aunts. Jaiden put together a fun Kahoot, like Janelle did at hers. I like that because everyone can get involved and it helps to get to know the couple better. Janelle answered the most questions correctly. Janelle was a bridesmaid at Esther's (her former roomie) wedding today and so she went to her sealing in the morning and then the bridal shower and then left for the wedding luncheon and reception tonight. So she had a busy day! Jason came at the very end and so Grandma Jensen and Julie were able to meet him and I was able to get some cute pictures of him and Jaiden in front of the balloon arch. They received lots of lovely gifts! I feel so grateful for everyone who came to support Jaiden and for all of the help received for the shower! The wedding is just two weeks away!! 

Jaiden's sisters and sisters-in-law!! 

Three of Jaiden's bridesmaids were able to come (Lizzie, Kierra, and Emily)

St. George Bridal Shower

Busy day for Janelle -- nail appointment, bridal shower, bridal pictures, and homework!!  

This morning Janelle had an appointment to get her nails done. I don't think she has ever gotten them done before, and she also bites her nails and so they are really short. Janelle's roommate's mom offered to do Janelle's nails for free. I thought it would be an hour and a half, but it ended up being two hours and fifteen minutes, because Mia's mom had to give Janelle gel extensions, which is something she normally doesn't do. 

Janelle had also been planning on going to the credit union right after to get a new checking card, because she discovered that someone had made several charges on her debit card and so she had to call the credit union and have them freeze her card. So that is too bad, but at least she discovered it the same day it was stolen! So now she has to get a new card. She planned on doing that today between the nails and bridal shower, but there wasn't enough time, so they will have to mail her a new card. 

So Janelle hurried to the shower, and Jenna and I met her there. It was held at Grandma Gustin's house in Ivins. Their house was lovely!! They had a huge spread with a delicious taco bar, and a variety of cookies, including gluten free options! They had advice cards and Janelle did her fun Kahoot from our shower last week. She got lots of really nice gifts! The only downside was that it was fall break and so 3/4 of the people we invited were out of town! So, that's too bad! But it was still really fun and it was nice meeting lots of the Gustin family members that I hadn't met yet. They have such an awesome family! It makes me even more excited for Janelle and Bryton to get married! 

After the shower we hurried home so that Jenna could touch up Janelle's hair before her bridals later that afternoon! Busy day!! 

Janelle's Bridal Shower

Janelle's bridal shower was today! Shane and Alicia graciously allowed us to host it at their house, which was awesome. Alicia also took care of the decorations, which was doubly awesome! Jenna, Janelle, and I had slept over at their house after Ellen's baby shower last night. So it was nice to already be at the location for the shower today.

Jenna suggested soup for the food and I thought that was a great idea. So we had three different kinds of soup. Janika brought potato broccoli, I brought white chicken chili, and Janelle made taco soup -- buying all of the ingredients and cooking it that morning. Janelle's roommates came an hour early to help with the food and setting up. My sister, Jen, made her yummy breadsticks, brazilian cheese rolls, and sourdough bread. They were all a big hit! 

For dessert we had Costco's famous Tuxedo cake. I brought a separate little gluten free "Nothing Bundt Cake" for me and Jenna. We all ate lunch and then did a cute Kahoot that Janelle had put together with questions such as "where did Janelle and Bryton meet," "who initiated the first kiss," "who said 'I love you' first," etc. The top three winners were Janelle's roommates, which makes sense since they live with her, ha ha! Then she opened gifts. She received lots of nice gifts and we were able to get her a couple of group gifts also, which was nice. 

Grandma Jensen gave her the crocheted "Gustin," sign that she made, which is such a special gift! I hope they get it framed soon so that they can display it at their reception. I am glad that the shower went well and that we had a nice turn out. Bryton's mom also came all the way up for the weekend in order to come to the shower, which was really nice of her! A few family members from the Bryton side, who live in the area, were able to come too. 

After the bridal shower I ran Janika home and then took a quick nap and then Jenna and I headed home! She was anxious to get home since she had plans to watch a movie with Ethan that night. Rick was out of town, having just left on a cruise yesterday, and so I had the house to myself for a few hours! 

Hallie's Bridal Shower!!

Today we went to Hallie's bridal shower!! It was her house in Spanish Fork. A lot of people came and we had a good turn out from our side as well. Me, Jenna, Janika, Ellen, my mom, my Aunt Nelva, Danielle, Alicia, Rella, Grandma Jensen, and Julie. Grandma Jensen brought all of Jared's hope chest items and had them open everything after the shower. Here are a few pictures of the event! 

Alyssa's Bridal Shower

This morning Josh and I left at 6:00 am so that I could drop him off to State Madrigal and Ensemble at Provo high school at 10:00. Everyone else left on the bus yesterday right after school, but Josh had a soccer game last night that he didn't want to miss. So I offered to drive him separately. It also happened to by Alyssa's bridal shower today and so I dropped him off in Provo (he had slept the whole way, ha ha), and then hurried to Highland to catch a ride with family to the shower. 

Alicia drove and those of us who went with her were me, my mom, my aunt Nelva, and Kim. We enjoyed a nice visit in the car and enjoyed visiting at the shower. Scott and Amy have done so much with the house -- it looks totally different! They have done a great job remodeling and it looks amazing. They had added a huge covered back porch in the back yard. I would love something like that for our house! I was glad that I could come to the shower and visit with everyone. We are so happy for Alyssa! 

Ellen's Bridal Shower

Janelle, Jaiden, Jenna and I all went to Shelby's baby shower in Ogden on Saturday at 1:00. We came up last night and stayed overnight at my mom's. Janika came from Logan and met us at Shelby's shower. It was fun to see everyone. Then my girls and I headed to South Jordan for Ellen's bridal shower. It was a Mexican Fiesta and they had it all decorated really cute and played some games. It was really fun! That is too bad that we didn't have more family come. The ones that came on the Jensen side were Grandma Jensen, Gerilyn, and Julie. They didn't stay very long. Grandma Jensen brought up all of the hope chest items for Jase and Ellen to see so that they can display them at their wedding reception. I think my mom was the only one who came from the Westra side. They played a game where everyone had a little ring and if you caught someone saying the word "wedding" or "marriage" then you could take that person's ring. Well, Jenna set out to win the  game and she did! She won these cute succulents!