Birthday Party and Sanjaya

What I'm reading: Beach Road (making progress)

What I'm listening to: Something to Talk About by Sanjaya (!)

The "main event" of the day was little Ava's second birthday. We arrived late, of course (I am the exact opposite, but whatever) and the festivities were already underway. Melissa (my sister in law, but really more- she's been with my brother since I was 3 and they were in high school) had some yummy, greasy mexican food ready to munch on (we missed the snacks). I had a ton of fun chatting with everyone. Grandma brought pictures of all the recent family outings, so I peaked at those. This party was immediate family only- Grandparents, great grandparents, and aunts/uncles... It was nice to have such a small group and get to chat with everyone individually as well as let Ava shine. Of course, the great part of having the party down south is that my boyfriend JC was able to stop by and meet a lot of the family.

Afterwards she opened presents- we got her several cute RL outfits for both summer and fall as well as a few Corduroy books and a purse. All of the gifts were lovely though-

My other brother, Rusty, and his wife, Bev, were there, along with their son, Tyler. It was so cute to watch the two kids "boogie down" to country music. They are pretty close in age, so it's just darling. I am so fortunate to have such an adorable and sweet niece and nephew.

Melissa and her sister decorated some delicious cupcakes- let me tell you, I thought they had had them professionally decorated. They were DARLING! I had to take a picture to share-

One really interesting note is that since both of my brothers have had their children, both my mom and I have had the pleasure of getting to know my Dad's first wife a lot better. She is an absolute delight and I love running into her at these functions. She actually reminds me a lot of my Mom- and you might be surprised to know that my mom really likes her too!

Once we got home, I ran over to the barn and checked on the boys. Got home, found my new bridle part (Thanks to People on Horses- a strap broke one of the first times I used my bridle due to some antics one of the boys pulled- and they managed to make a new one) in the trash- cleaned it and put my bridle together. I am also getting my plans firmed up for a training trip with both boys in Rancho Santa Fe. I started putting together the grain for the trip, ate some dinner, and am now watching Entourage.