Under the Sea:: Ruby's 5th Birthday Party

This weekend I had the opportunity to photograph Ruby's 5th birthday party with all her friends. The theme centered around all things mermaid/under the sea and the decor was ocean blues - shells, streamers, pom poms, fish-shaped sandwiches, and even a visit from Ariel herself, complete with face-painting, a treasure hunt, and - at the end - "loot pails" for each child.

I took pictures of Ruby's princess party last year and wrote a simple blog post about it. Ruby's mom - Jen - is fabulous with planning parties and is quite honestly the hostess with the mostess :-) Jen has launched a business out of her love for planning and is gearing up for some upcoming parties. Check out Jen's newly created blog for previous parties and those to come! I am so thankful we had the opportunity to meet a few years ago...I count it a blessing to have her as a friend and watch her love on her daughter.

But back to the party..... The day couldn't have been nicer - temps in the 70s - and a little girl so excited about her special party. Here's the birthday girl:

 Mom and Dad with Ruby.....

 Such a happy little 5-year old:

 Playing with the flowers....just love that "poof" of the skirt...

 A pic of the girls with Ariel in the middle...they were so excited when she came...

 Ariel's response when one of the girls asked her a question:

Ruby doing the "craft" -- painting shells...

Ariel did face-painting too...all the girls ran to line up....birthday girl got a little heart...

 Beaming as she listens to her friends sing "Happy Birthday".....

 The moms whose girls came to the party....they are a great bunch of really sweet women...

 The dining room, all set for lunch... Jen did a great job taking care of every last detail...

The cutest little holder for pink lemonade that the girls loved...and look at those cute straws....

 The wonderful hostess....and mom extraordinaire. Jen is so gifted...she's really so talented. She made so many of the decorations and food items you see in this picture:

the streamers hanging, the marshmallows on the left of the table, the pom pom hanging, 

and put thought into each and every thing that took place that day. 

Jen, thanks so much for allowing me to be a part of Ruby's special day. I am so glad I was able to capture the moments so you could enjoy watching it unfold. Your creativity is inspiring. It's amazing what a year does to little ones...Ruby is such a sweet young lady and it's wonderful to know your journey and have her be such an incredible blessing in your and Jeff's lives.

Absolutely superb party...can't wait to hear about next year's theme!!!

(Click here to see more pics)

Ruby's Pink Party

I went to Thailand in 2008 for PBU - the university I worked for - as the director of their extension campus for 5 weeks. Toward the end of my trip there, I got an email from the university saying that this woman had contacted them looking to see if we had any connections in Thailand. They put her in touch with me, and I found out she and her husband were looking to adopt a little girl from Thailand. We met over lunch while she told me about the daughter she hoped to bring into her family. In 2009 Ruby came to the States to be raised by this incredible couple.

Last year, I contacted Jen - Ruby's mom - because she had BEAUTIFUL tulips blossoming in her front yard. I went over last year around this time to take pictures of the flowers, some of which are my favorite pictures. Jen and I keep in touch from time to time and we each follow each other's blogs. I wrote Jen a few weeks ago about the tulips and also to see if I could take some pictures of Ruby while I was in town. Jen suggested a unique photo op I wasn't expecting. Ruby's 4th bday party was this weekend, and I had the privilege to photograph the events of the afternoon. I loved taking pics of all the details, including the efforts of Jen. She made a beautiful pink cake, homemade pink popcorn, pink cupcakes, pink marshmallows, pink lemonade, pink cookies, had pink rock candy, pink-labeled bottles of water, pink tutus and wands, and a whole host of other pink things....are you noticing a theme? It was so fun seeing these little girls all decked out in their fairy outfits. There was a woman who came to do face painting...she painted little butterflies on the girls' faces...so precious!

This is Miss Ruby...isn't she just darling. Jen and Jeff, thanks for allowing me to spend an afternoon with your little angel. I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to be in touch...and hope that you continue to enjoy raising your little Thai princess!

Mutarica

When I was in Thailand in 2008, the asst. director was this gal Mutarica.
We'd write back and forth about details of the school, housing accommodations, peoples' flight itineraries, and such, all the while not knowing how old she was, or what she looked like. We were business penpals for a short time.

I finally wrote and asked how old she was, just to get a sense. I soon realized through further emails that we'd be fast friends.

As soon as I got over there, we talked about life - friends, interests, PBU, ICS (the school we used in Thailand), etc. We went to night markets, the mall, massages, the airport (to pick others up), and enjoyed cruising around in her car.

I felt truly blessed to have her...to know she spoke the language when I didn't know what to say. She told me the places to see and took me to church with her each week.

I had found a friend.

But then the tricky part ensued....would we stay in touch when I left? Would we write? Would we always have that summer to recall memories, but not much after that?
We emailed back and forth, and then I got a postcard from her, and realized, "Why have I not been sending her snail mail?" I love sending people notes...why had I not thought of that?? So just within the last few months, we wrote a few handwritten notes back and forth too.

We always talked about seeing each other again. I didn't think I'd come back this way for a long time, if ever. But here I am, just a few hours away (by flight). And, I am SO SO excited to say, Mutarica is coming TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!! She is going to spend the weekend and we're going to wreak havoc (for you, Kay) in Hong Kong.

I am sure we'll laugh a lot, and pick up right where we left off two years ago.

I'll be sure to post some pics of our time together; for now, this is my friend: