Party Day

We started out this morning at the Mirehaven Park at 8:30 am. Tallie, one of my Primary counselors, met us there and she, Matthew, and I distributed 600 plastic eggs around the grassy field area. We started the hunt at 9:05 and by 9:11 the park was emptied of it's eggs and the first family was leaving. We had a few fewer kids than last year, but it was definitely a success and everyone had a good time. I was again impressed by the older youth and teenagers who were very diligent in making sure the smallest participants ended up with plenty of treats in their baskets. We were one of the last families to leave the park at 10:00.

The next four hours of our day were spent making sure toys I didn't want played with by mobs of children were put away, setting up tables and chairs, cutting berries, and getting as far along in the batter making process as I could. Matthew took Hyrum and Mercy to return a hastily made purchase to Harbor Freight and Abraham and I enjoyed a happy lunch together. At 2:00 Mindy dropped off her boys for Matthew to tend, then she and I went together to Kayla's baby shower. We stayed for about an hour, but I didn't remember to take any pictures.

Mindy dropped me off at 3:30. She left her boys here in order to run some errands and I spent every second before 5:00 making roughly 80 pancakes, a quadruple batch of waffles, 2 lbs of bacon, 2 lbs of sausage links, and an egg/potato/sausage casserole. Breakfast food is Mercy's favorite and I was happy to make it for her, but as a general rule it is about the most difficult thing to serve for a large party since hardly any of it can be made in advance. Thankfully Mindy came back a bit early and took over waffle duty, and Jeb volunteered to take on the bacon. In addition to the normal butter and syrup, we had blackberries and sugared strawberries, peanut butter, nutella, cinnamon sugar, and fresh whipped cream. I also splurged and got juice boxes and Yoohoo's. 

In attendance at Mercy's party were the Jolley's, the Jensen's, the Jeb Brown's, and the Sterling Brown's; 15 kids and 10 adults in total. My spread included something for everyone and the mountain of food I prepared was absolutely devoured. Matthew started counting calories again last week and his fitness app informed him that if he ate like today every day he'd weigh over 200 lbs in five weeks.

After dinner everyone migrated outside and we took advantage of the relocation to sing and serve cupcakes. The kids all played on the play set and trampoline for the next hour while the adults polished off the rest of the food and sat around talking. It was a win win for everyone. At some point Mercy opened presents and there was more playing with her new treasures. Mercy was pleased with the attention, but not at all a party diva. She was gracious and shared and genuinely just loved being surrounded by friends.

The last of our party guests left around 8:00 pm. I got our three bathed and in bed then cleaned up the kitchen. Normally Matthew does D&D on Saturday nights, but enough of the group couldn't make it so they had a game night instead. I considered staying up to play with them, but after such a full day, I opted instead to shower and put myself to bed.