I hope you all had a great weekend! Most of my time was spent designing blogs. We’re going to be putting up some new pre-made templates on Etsy this week. I’m so excited! We’re going to try to put 1 or 2 new pre-made templates up every month from now on. I even managed to quickly whip up a new design for my blog and decided to go with a 3 column theme.

I’d love to have sponsors on my blog now that I have a 3 column theme. I don’t have all the details yet but I just wanted to see if anyone would be interested in being a sponsor on my blog first before I proceed with this so please email me or leave a comment and let me know.

My sister’s first day at work was this weekend. She works as a bagging chick at the grocery store. My mom texted me telling me she saw her at the store and I just knew I had to go see for myself. I never go to this grocery store anymore since I like Fry’s better than Safeway. So I went inside and spotted my blond sister bagging groceries. She was so into it so I couldn’t get her attention. I tried thinking of things I needed at the store and ended up buying ground turkey and finally caught my sister’s attention when I was checking out. She looked at me like she was not enjoying it at all. I felt bad for her but it’s a job and she will definitely enjoy her first paycheck.

I just love my parents so much! I really do think they’re awesome and I love it when people tell me that they think my parents are so cool and fun to be with. So the other night after we left my parents’ house I just had to text my mom and tell her.

Every time I came home from college or a trip, my family was always there at the airport standing there waving their hands the minute they saw me and plant wet kisses on my face.

Every time I came home from camp when I was a teenager, they always surprised me with a small gift or it was just rearranging my bedroom.

So my parents knew my sister wasn’t having a great weekend with having to work 2 days and longer hours. While my sister was at work today, they cleaned up her room and finally hung up the frames that I got her for her Birthday and graduation. They also brought her dinner to work. Can we say awww? Okay, I admit it…they have spoiled us rotten but we’re so lucky to have them as parents and we do appreciate them. When I’m rich someday, I’ll pay it back to them. For now, they have already gotten the best 50th & 60th Birthday party.

Consider this “Parents Appreciative Week”! :)

[Read Part #1 about the surprise Birthday party we threw for both of my parents]

My sister texted me when they were close to arriving and I got all the guests into the living room for the surprise. It felt like a really long wait! AND finally they rang the doorbell!

They were shocked and definitely surprised when I opened the door! My dad later said he thought he saw a ghost when he saw his best friend, Craig, standing there. Craig had been lying to my dad all day while on the road. Dad thought he was arriving the next day on Sunday from Seattle but he came earlier for the party. It was such a nice feeling to know how many people love my parents and were able to come and be part of the celebration!

The 2nd surprise was the arrival of my aunt, uncle (mom’s brother), cousin and her husband. They walked right in the middle of the party. Supposedly the surprises were too much for my mom and she had to leave in the middle of the surprise to go to the bathroom, haha!

Cousin Dana, Aunt Lee, and Mom

Mom with her inflatable cane & Uncle Don (her brother)

There were tons of finger foods, margaritas, wine & a keg! We gathered around outside for my parents to open their cards & gifts. Later on in the night, somehow a “keg stand” came up in the conversation. My parents had no clue what a keg stand was. After we explained it to them…. you can guess what they wanted to do!

Now how many people can say they did their first keg stand at their own 50th & 60th Birthday party?! This was PRICELESS!

The other awesome thing we had at the party was a photo booth that didn’t cost us a dime! I contacted two of my parents’ friends who are photographers and asked if we could borrow their camera to set up on a tripod. They were awesome and even brought a satin sheet to use as the backdrop. We had the photo booth set up in the garage. Haley and I made the sign so people knew where the photo booth was. In the garage there was a table with all these silly props that my sister and I had bought from Party City and we used some other things we found in the garage as props too. It was fantastic and so much fun! Over 200 photos were taken and I uploaded them to my computer before returning the camera back to the photographers.

I selected a few photos to show you all below in this post… be sure to click on them to view as a slideshow.

The party was just the beginning…. we continued to have more parties throughout the week! It was by far the best week of 2010!

My dad is a wonderful man! I’m so lucky to have him as a father. I have my grandfather & grandmother to thank for raising him and shaping him into an incredible man! There is truly nothing bad I can say about him. Of course we’ve butted heads before only because in those situations we both were stubborn but it never lasted more than an hour or so. Other than that we pick on each other and always bet on who’s right. I can proudly say I’m almost always right! Haha…I’m sure he’s going to disagree on this.

The day I left for college was truly the first time I’ve ever seen him cry other than at his father’s funeral. I remember not wanting to leave… at that moment I was willing to work at the grocery store just so I could stay home and be with my parents and be daddy’s girl. I’m glad we now live so close by that we see them every other day or so.

My paternal grandfather was such a caring man and was liked by so many people. Now my dad reminds me a lot like him. My dad is liked by everyone. At his 2nd job, he’s a school bus driver. All the kids who ride his bus think he’s the best driver ever. I’ve heard stories where some kids cried and were upset when he wasn’t their bus driver anymore. He receives so many thanks and gift cards from parents. Even the other day when I was driving in the neighborhood with him, he honked at a woman he knew riding her bike. He told me she rides her bike everyday to work and he sees her on his way to work every morning.

My paternal grandmother was telling me how she is very proud of her son. When my dad went to visit her in Seattle a few months ago, he fixed everything for her and went to church with her. At church, my grandmother was showing her son off to all her friends and was glowing when everyone told her how handsome he was. I feel the same way, I’m always proud to introduce my dad to my friends too!

Dad, thank you for everything you have taught me so far. I cannot wait to create many more memories with you! My kids will be very lucky to have a wonderful grandpa someday. Thank you for being there for me every time I needed you to be…even those times when I didn’t ask. As you always say, I love you from here to the moon!!!