In Mid-June my dear friend, Carmen Hardy, threw a baby shower for me at her lovely home. Here is a masterpiece present from Sarah Gounaris- a diaper cake. Inside is more gifties too- little toys and onesies. So cute and I was especially touched by the thought, time, and money it must have taken to make it.
Yay for boy clothes.
I was happy to bring Natalie with me to the party. She is extremely excited for a baby brother.
The food. Yum.
My friend Yolany Ponce and daughter Naomi. Yolany has a lot of faith and was always so nice and supportive to me. She is the new Relief Society President in Huntington. On my last Sunday at church she did the sweetest thing...she surprised me by having pictures of me at my wedding, with my girls, coming to New York...showing a progression of my family life and then saying that I had become part of the Huntington family. It was one of the nicest gestures anyone's ever done for me.
Me with Hailey Hardy...the game master of the shower. She was also a former piano student of mine and the ideal daughter (or babysitter) anyone would love to have!
Carmen Hardy...an amazing woman in every way! She is the one who threw the shower for me. Mother of six, fun, easy going, positive, hard working, so generous, giving, and thoughtful. Not gossipy and non-judgemental. One of my favorite people.
Sarah Gounaris with Natalie. I described why I love Sarah on a previous blog. I didn't mention how tough she is. Tough meaning....she does what is right even when it's hard.
Me with Kimberly Sim. She and her husband Richard made us the most delicious Korean BBQ right before I left New York. Kim is very generous with her home and food and loves hosting church activities and get-togethers. (She also has a beautiful home). She is an amazing mother, patient, organized and I LOVE her simple living...no clutter at her house!
Luella Pinelli with Kim. Luella is a gifted teacher and musician, has a huge heart and a lot of faith. She was also very supportive and encouraging to me and kind. We will miss her and Tony and will always remember them singing a duet at our Church Christmas party a couple years ago. ("Baby it's Cold Outside".) :)
Jill and Sadie Callaghan with Natalie. Sadie and Jill were some of our first friends in New York. We met them at a storytime at East Northport library. Jill is so generous and open. She has helped me with my girls many many times. She is a beautiful homemaker/decorator and I love going to her house. She is an amazing mother- organized, patient, healthy, fun, creative, and knows how to find a good bargain. :) I have learned so much from her and will miss her!
Ethel Macagnone and Lisa Miller. I've already said why I love Lisa in a previous blog, but I must add that we have LOVED game nights/dinner nights and just having some friends to hang out with and have a good time with when we were with her and Brian. Ethel has got to be the sweetest most giving woman ever! She has also helped me with my kids on many occasions, was always so supportive to me and made me feel smarter and better than I am. She is a good teacher. She has a huge heart and will help you with ANYTHING!
Carol Rebeck, Nicol Legakis and Ellianna Legakis. I LOVE these three ladies. Carol is so much fun. She is so giving, non-judgemental, beautiful in and out, I love and respect her in many many ways! Nicol is super intelligent, fun to talk to, intriguing to me, open minded, and kind. Elli babysat our girls all the time. She is also very intelligent, creative and a gifted artist. She is also fun to be around and a good conversationalist. Get the three of them together and it's always a good time.
Me with Amy Cannon and Janet Srinivasin. Amy just moved to New York about a year ago. She is an amazing woman and mother. She has triplets that are 7 years old and then a 5 year old . Her husband got called to be the Branch President in Huntington about 6 months ago. She has been very willing to sacrifice her time with him so he can serve all of us. She has a lot of faith, and is tough (deals with hard situations well). She also has a great sense of humor. Janet is super organized and always puts her family first. She has a beautiful smile and has always been very encouraging and kind to me.
I'm glad I got to share just a little bit of why I love each of these women. At the shower in addition to fun games, Jill had the idea to really embarrass me. They passed a ball of string around the circle of us, each of us tied it around our wrists, then everyone took a turn to say something they like about me or appreciated about me. I was very flattered and touched. I love each them so much and have learned more from their examples than I can adequately say. Jill explained that just like we were connected by the string we were all connected to each other in life and to me as a friend. Very thoughtful. I miss you all!! Thank you for all the generosity in gifts and kind words!
