When the rubber meets the road

Yesterday the big day finally arrived. Weeks of preparation were about to be realized. Friday involved the setting up of rental table and chairs, hanging paper lanterns, food prep, and putting together a good mix of music on my iPod. The following pictures hopefully capture some of the fruits of our labor. Unfortunately, the number of pictures that I took were meager. I was so busy keeping the party flowing by ensuring that food trays were replenished and that everyone was having a good time that I had few opportunities to capture the event photographically. So I'll share what I've got.
This was the view from our french doors that go out on our upper deck. You can see the paper lanterns, the and various umbrellas and tables that we set up. The potted flowers that I purchased at Trader Joes were the center pieces for the tables. Some faired better than others, but I did my best to keep them alive. However, you can see that the red flowers in the center of the table are drooping a bit. I remedied the situation with a little H2O before the guests arrived. I also placed bowls of chips and salsa on all the tables to encourage everyone to sit at tables to visit rather than congest the food area. That strategy met with limited success as everyone insisted on hanging out around the food area.
We had two tents that we erected on our lower deck. To the right we have a beautiful tiered water fountain, that surprisingly ended up to be entertainment for the young ones. Good thing I had a dryer handy so the mom's could quickly dry their little ones out and redress them. No nudity allowed at this party...it just was not that kind of party!
Here's a view from the far side of our upper deck. In the distant background you can see where the food area was. We had lots of shaded areas, but it turned out to not be a too hot and sunny day, so everyone faired very well hanging out in the back yard.
Here's our tiered fountain that fascinated the children. It was so lovely on the lower deck. I have to point out that the potted vine on the left was planted only two weeks ago. And when I planted it, it was only 2 feet tall. Please note how rapidly it grew! I had to start looping it through the bricks that border the top of the wall. Quite frankly I am impressed with myself. Or is that taking too much credit?

Here's Dan and our best friend Greg enjoying our lower deck and probably telling each other all sorts of lies...as men often do. I guess the thumbs up means that he's having a good time. I have to also say that Greg felt it was his responsibility to ensure that I had enough margaritas. Before dinner was served he had me on my third! I ended the night with having a total of five margaritas. Put it this way, I was very relaxed and happy by the end of the evening. So snaps to Greg.
This is Rich, the daddy to be. We simply love him. He is such a good guy and the perfect match for our precious Jen. Unfortunately I failed to get a good picture of him with Jen.
Here they are opening their presents. Of course I failed to capture the size of her belly. I had to take a picture when she covered it with a gift bag, oh poop!

Here a couple of Rich's friends. The guy on the right is Eddie. After telling me what a beautiful yard and home we had, he proceeded to ask if he could have his wedding here. I was gobsmacked and graciously declined the request. Further demonstrating his good taste, he also told me that I was the best hostess that he ever met. Now I know that he was just buttering me up for the subsequent request, but I decided to believe him because...I have a sufficiently big ego. So sue me.
Amy is pictured on the left. She is Eddie's intended. She proceeded to ask me to cater her wedding. Again, I have to assume that she was only kidding, but to be on the safe side I used my brilliant sense of humor to decline her request. Note the drooping red flowers. I sure do have the touch.
I could not have put this party on successfully without my best friend Mona. She's married to Greg the pusher of margaritas. She worked her butt off. I asked her to marry me. She kindly declined, but said we could still be best friends.
This is Luke and Diane. She is my sister in law. I couldn't have done it without her as well. She too worked her butt off. I didn't ask her to marry me as we're already related by marriage and I thought that was enough. At the end of the party we all agreed to meet back at our house at 11 am to clean up. All of us went to bed with that plan clearly in mind. I awoke around 9:30 am and as I began dressing I thought I heard feet walking on the deck below. I quickly finished dressing and got downstairs as quickly as I could. It wasn't 11 am and someone was cheating by starting early. Who could these offenders be? I walked out through the french doors pictured above and was greeted with a completely cleared deck. Diane and her husband, Luke, who has to be the best brother in law in the world had almost completed the cleaning up. I was in a state of ecstatic shock. I still felt so tired and achy from the night before that I wasn't looking forward to hauling chairs and tables. But I didn't have to. When I arrived, Dan and Luke were collapsing the tents and putting them away in their carriers. The only thing left was taking down the paper lanterns and emptying the drink containers of lemonade and margarita mix. As each of the others arrived at 11 am to begin the cleaning up, each was greeted with the welcome news that their services were not needed. What was so impressive was that so many willing hearts and hands showed up to help. I am so fortunate to have such wonderful family and friends who are always there to help out and support us whenever there is a need. The amount of money and possessions pale in comparison to the riches we have with family and friends. We love you all!