Cinco De Mayo & Harrison's 10th Birthday

 Every year on May 5th we have a Mexican feast and celebrate Harrison's birthday. I don't think our Mexican feast disappointed at all this year. We had soapapillas' and chips and guacamole for appetizers. Nachos, quesdillas, cilantro rice and fruit for dinner. I tried a new recipe for dessert and did a friend ice cream cake for dessert. The whole meal was super yummy! The dessert was super easy and tasted exactly like friend ice  cream without all of the hard work!

 Harrison turned the big 10 years this year! First of all we are still happy he is here with us. He has really bad hip dysplasia and one vet told us he would only live to be 8-10 years old. He is such a mild mannered dog and so gentle and excellent with kids. Except for the occasional barking and crotch sniffing of visitors he is the perfect dog! We bought him a few new dog toys for his birthday. As you can tell he thoroughly enjoyed them!

So we decided to give Kelli her Mother's day present a little early because Heather (Kyle's sister) was due with a baby any day and we weren't sure Kelli would be here for Mother's day. So we gave her her present a little early. Here is the story behind her present.
The day after Kelli's mother passed away (about a year and half ago) I went over to Kelli's parents house just to visit and be with the family. I found Kyle in a bedroom in the basement. As I was talking to him I saw a Tupperware box in the basement full of antique fabric yo yo's. I pulled it out and was amazed at how many there were and how beautiful these handcrafted yo yo's were. I asked Kyle if he knew what they were and asked if I could "borrow" them. So I literally snuck them out of the house. I then had no idea what to do with them. So luckily I have very amazing Aunts and a Grandma that love to sew and quilt. I took them out to my Grandma's and begged for help. My Grandma asked my Aunts to get involved. I told them I didn't have anything specific I wanted out of them, I was thinking a little centerpiece. I did tell them I wanted two made, one for Kelli and one for her sister. So my Aunt's took the yo yo's and split them up and began working on them. About a year and a half later they said they were done. They had spent countless hours handpicking them off of the fabric they were attached to. Then they spent even more hours crafting the blue yo yo's to tie them all together. Them they spent even longer hand stitching them all together. I can't believe the final product. It is AMAZING!!!
I was so excited to give it to Kelli and tell her the story. When she first opened it she had no idea what it was. When I told her what we had done and all of the hard work that had been done she immediately broke down in tears. She loved the beautiful centerpiece that was made of her mother's antique fabric yo yo's. She looked at every single yo yo and just kept rubbing her hands over the beautiful fabric.
It was a beautiful gift and I can't express how grateful I am to my Aunts for all of their countless hours of hard work to put it together. I know it is something that Kelli will cherish forever and it will stay in our family forever.