Emilee and Chip's BIG Reveal!

In May our family was delighted to attend Emilee and Chip's Graduation Party and Grad School Reveal. Note that we did not actually attend the graduation ceremony because that would have been tedious and tortuous. But the party was super fun! Emilee worked so hard planning everything, coordinating food, buying a dozen 3-foot long sandwiches (which fed us all weekend long), decorating with her collection of globes, and adding adorable touches like mini paper airplanes in the cupcakes. Everyone that came got to guess what school they might be going to next, and they revealed it at the end with dramatic flair - they simultaneously pulled school shirts out of gift bags that said UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY! They even had giant candy bars to reward the people who guessed correctly. (Not me. I think I guessed Washington state.)

One HUGE surprise for the weekend was that Katie came to visit from Alaska! Emilee had NO idea, and truthfully the video of Emilee seeing Katie right after the graduation ceremony is PRICELESS. (Think visible disbelief to excitement to joyful exclamation to hugs to scrunched up face crying.) Another funny story is of how Rus and Jacob (his brother) and Carla went to the Tucson airport to pick up Katie. Rus and Jacob knew that they were going to get Katie but Carla didn't know at all. So the brothers spun an elaborate lie of how they had to pick up a special kind of fabric for their dad that was export-regulated and thus could only be delivered in person at the airport. Even when Rus was hugging Katie, Carla was still trying to see how her brother hugging this strange woman was part of the mission to pick up special regulated fabric...

Marianne instantly took to Katie and they were buddies the whole night. 

See that tiny picture by Katie's shoulder? It's a print I made of Emilee and Chip, kind of pop-art style. I wish I had a better picture of it.

Oh Payne sibling photos. Yes, Carla is protecting her butt from her brothers because they are trying to pinch her. Jake is the main culprit here and Rus is about to retaliate. Katie is in on the action and Emilee is mentally disowning her siblings...

...Until it all spins out of control and Emilee is openly disowning her siblings, Carla's "big sister" voice is trying to regulate, and the competitive spirit of the other three has taken over and left them senseless to the scene they are creating. Good times!

I brought my face paints so I could work my magic on all the little kids' faces. Bekah wanted to be a unicorn just for her aunt. (Emilee loves unicorns.)

Also that weekend: The kids made bug boxes and then had a great time decorating them and catching inhabitants for them.

We also made dream catchers. Aren't these earrings amazing on DeAnn?

I love my other family! They bring light and joy to my life and I am so grateful for the blessing they are to me! I'm going to miss Emilee and Chip being in New Mexico, but I am so excited for their new adventure!