Jasmine's 4th Birthday Party

We had another big blowout for Jasmine's birthday party this year and had a lot of fun throwing it. We always love throwing big parties for Jasmine because we invite a lot of kids and adults and so it really becomes a party for everyone. Each year we have a central theme for the party and structure the party around that theme. This year the theme was Cowgirls and Horses. Jasmine has been into horses a lot lately and loves playing with her My Little Pony dolls.Lorne and I had discussed renting a pony for pony rides and so I reserved one and didn't tell Jasmine. I wanted it to be a surprise and I also didn't want her asking me about every minute of every day until the actual party.
It had rained a lot all through the month of June and while I normally love the rain, I was getting anxious that it had rained too much and our yard was going to be mush. We hadn't had enough dry days to dry out the yard and to make matter worse, when I woke up that Saturday morning the sky was ominously gray and gloomy and threatening to rain. Needless to say, I was scared.
On our way home from Jasmine's ballet class, it started raining and I started getting stressed out. We needed to finish setting everything up and I couldn't put stuff out if it was raining. In addition to that, I needed it to stop raining because everything I had planned for the party was an outdoor activity and my house was in no shape to have everyone inside. Did I mention that 50 people had RSVP ed for our event?
Jasmine was also fretting because she knew that we were supposed to have her birthday party outside. I told her that she should pray and ask Heavenly Father to make the rain stop. So she did - and she prayed like 3 times.
Meanwhile, Lorne went to go and pick up the balloons and it was still raining. He called me and asked if we should cancel the pony and do it another time. I told him I still had hope and that the pony people were prepared to do it in the rain.
I began to prepare the inside of the house, with some help to see if we could perhaps move people inside. I started to fret also because I know God answers our prayers and sometimes not in the way we want but I didn't want little Jasmine's faith to shatter because she prayed for the rain to stop and it didn't.
Thirty minutes before the party, the rain stopped. I made the executive decision to have all the tables and chairs in the driveway so that they wouldn't sink into the wet and muddy ground and we set up the moon bounce and kiddie pool in the front yard. We planed on the pony rides to begin in the front yard with a circle around the backyard.
It was incredible - we all rallied and pretty much had everything set up when the guests arrived. The food was ready and warm and things were in place. On the menu we had pulled pork bbq, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, watermelon, baked beans and macaroni salad. It was all delicious and we were happy that everyone got to eat their fill.When the pony arrived Jasmine shouted with glee and was so very excited. She was also excited to be the first to ride the pony as she was the birthday girl. She rode it like a pro and really loved it. I think it was also fun for the other kids - everyone had a chance to ride at least twice and that pony never stopped for the 2 hours she was there. Her name was Pixie and she was pretty cute.She also spent a great of time in the pool. That girl loves the water, now if I could teach her how to swim so she could be even more comfortable.Midway through the party the sky started to cry a bit and we got scared it was going to really come down so we all rallied and brought the food and chairs inside. It turned out that it as just a few sprinkles and about 10 minutes later, all was clear and sunny again.
We cute the cake, which of course I made and everyone loved it. Jasmine was super cute and blew out her candles in one breath - she has a lot of hot air like her mama. Ava slept most of the party - her inner party animal is waiting to come out, I just know it!Pretty soon it was time for everyone to go and we opted to open gifts later since it can become such a madhouse and then I never see anything in the frenzy or get a chance to write it down or know what she got from whom.We had her take a bit of a nap because she was so tired after the party and when we woke her from her nap, you could tell she was simply exhausted as she opened all of her gifts. Look at her smile in the pictures, she was trying to force it she was so tired. She made out like a bandit - everyone was so generous and thoughtful and we really appreciate all the lovely gifts.Jasmine ran to me and told me it was the best birthday party ever and she gave me a big hug. It was so worth it to go through all the effort to see your baby girl happy and creating a memory to last a lifetime.