#25 Al Ain ~ Party Animals BBQ/FHE/B-Day's/HALLOWEEN

 Fun Parties - all day long!

BBQ - Another great gathering at the Sinclair’s. Sunshine was our "griller" tonight and did a fantastic job! We had all kinds of delicious food and there was plenty for everyone! Little Ellie came right in, grabbed the broom and started sweeping ~ I think I’ll take her home with me for my Saturday cleaning 😜!

FHE - A fun FHE; this time at the DeLeon’s home. We had a great turnout and James and Victoria gave great lessons. It was close to James birthday so we had a delicious cake to celebrate him, as well.  It truly is so fun to get together and visit, learn principles of the Gospel and just be together.  It’s like we can forget about all our problems and just enjoy a night out with good friends.

It is still hard that we cannot meet together for Church. Many of our members who have to work on Sunday will record a talk so that they can share their testimonies and insights with the rest of us.  We usually will tape record the service so that those who are unable to attend through zoom still have the opportunity to listen to the speakers. It is always so great for the Branch to have this time together. 

Jennifer’s birthday: Brian went all out for Jennifer’s birthday. She had never had a birthday party growing up so he wanted this to be the party to beat all parties! He succeeded! It was held in a little banquet room and there was every food imaginable along with balloons, video, karaoke, games & prizes, dancing, dedications, serenades, presents and just a whole lot of fun. It truly was amazing and everyone had such a great time. Billy got a little nervous, well for 2 reasons: one ~ he was called up where it was just him and Brian in some game competition (which makes him totally uncomfortable) and then two he was so worried that I was going to expect to have a party just like this one for my birthday ~ well, I couldn’t do anything about the first concern but I assured him that he wouldn’t have to worry about a party for me! I just need some Clinique makeup (this year) and a gold chain (which broke) that I wear every day with my YW medallion and little ruby elephant hanging from it. I think I'd rather he can wait on that gift until we get back to the states to replace the chain!

Carol/Zuri's Party ~ We had met Carol a number of months ago at the Philippine Embassy but never got to visit with her. We were finally able to catch up with her and had a great time. She is beautiful and sweet and we just love her.  She has 2 children in their 20’s back in the Philippines and she supports them completely. She has a companion in Dubai that we hope to meet soon.  His name is Roderick and I’ve had quite a bit of communication with him through texting.  He has had a few lessons with the Ashby's and we hope to see him at our next activity. 

After lunch with Carol we picked up Ram and Rod and went to the park for Zuri’s birthday. We had another great time visiting, eating and watching the kids play all the games that Victoria had planned. Soooo much fun! In one of the games  she would pull an article out of a bag and the first kid that found that article in their mom's bag or dad's pocket would get a prize! Even the big kids got involved and it was a hoot! Both Ram and Rob won something! A fun evening! Carol met up with Jennifer so that was a fun little reunion!

Primary ~ The Primary girls were wonderfully engaged and diligent as they discovered meaningful ways to put on the Armor of God and apply its teachings in their lives!

Lucia Ratliff, our Stake Primary President, joined our class on Zoom and taught the girls, Peace in Christ. She was the very best teacher and the girls picked it up really fast. It is such a beautiful song and I love it. 

Just a side note ~ When we were on our mission in Romania, Elder Cameron Perrigo and Sister Emily Northrup sang this song at one of our Zone Conferences.  Cameron also sang it at the Palace of the Parliament in Romania where the acoustics were incredible. It has been my all time favorite song since I first heard it. 

*HALLOWEEN*

~OUR SWEET PRIMARY GIRLS~

The top pics are posters that Gayle made of each of us ~ they are so amazing and I really need to learn how to do this! She is so talented and incredible! Then a pic of our Branch, next our RS Sister, then our youth and last but not least our cute Primary kids.

This was the most enjoyable Halloween party ever! Gayle made all the scary, scrumptious food along with the guessing games, Adrena made decorations, frames, the piñata, cookies & a beautiful "bloody" cake and Victoria did the fun games and prizes! Even Zoe brought her face-painting kit and I got a spider 🕷 on my hand and a heart 💜 on my face! Everyone contributed in making it fun for every age group! And I think every single person dressed up except for one (and he didn't even dress up like a branch president 🤔💛😂; it's obvious, in our movie poster, who must be Dr. Jekyll and who is Mr. Hyde 😉).

The hardest thing in the world is for me is to be the judge of any contest (at the Karaoke activity I just copied 15 more certificates that Victoria had made, added those in to her 4, and everyone was a winner 😛). Fortunately, the Halloween party was a little easier to judge because Primary = Kyler was just too adorable and wore that black t-shirt on his head all night long, Youth = Adrena was the spitting image of Enid Sinclair (but I don't think Enid can sing as beautifully as Adrena), Male = Brian was the most scariest looking creature in the most frightening costume ever. For the Female category I did have to go and print out one more certificate because there was a 'tie'. I just couldn't decide between Victoria (the tortured nurse) and Jenny (the AMAZON package 😅)! They were all so Clever and Creative!

Piñata🪅: Need I say more? Everyone seems to love Piñata's. Adrena did a fantastic job at making this adorable pumpkin! It was sturdy and strong and took a lot of hits to finally come down (with the help of a few strong adults)!  I was up on the stairs (lower left pic) taking pics and had to move a few steps up because of the heavy hitters and my fear of being clobbered 😅!

Brian's mask was a huge hit and I was surprised that the kids weren't more frightened. Hygine borrowed it and wore it most of the night ~ it was pretty scary to me. I only got a couple pics of Billy as he was picking everyone up the first half and then talking with Pres Jensen, 1st Counselor in Stake Presy, who came out to set a few people apart, the 2nd half 😉. 

Amazing games that kept both young and old entertained! Victoria was giving out prizes all night long and Gayle did the final prizes for the guessing games. Even Zoe brought her face painting kit and kept busy decorating everyone's face (too cute)!

The food was absolutely wicked and crazy amazing ~ Gayle put (bloody) red sauce inside the intestines, the heart and the Brains. Even Adrena's had 'blood' gushing out of her beautiful cake when she cut into it ~ Brilliant!

I think that everyone had a wonderful time. Life really is such an incredible gift from Heavenly Father. We can enjoy fun moments, build friendships and laugh together. And they aren't just about spending time together; it's about creating joyful memories, lifting one another up and feeling the love of Christ through our friendships.

Mosiah 18:21

"Be united in love, with hearts knit together in unity."

Ecclesiastes 3:4 

"There is a time to laugh and a time to dance."

2 Nephi 2:25

“Men are, that they might have joy.” — 

Too many good scriptures to leave any out 💙😇💙!

Hope you had a "spook"-tacular Halloween!

Missing all our sweet grandkids, especially during this fun season, but this is only for a short minute and we'll be with them again next summer for many new memory making activities ❤️🥰❤️!