Booties and Beers, Giggles and Cheers

Our special yet crazy busy week has arrived. First up, a gender reveal party for my wonderful grandson, Keenan, and his beautiful partner, Katie. They have one daughter but are expecting a second child in November. We are very excited! This will be my fourth great grandchild. 

I have been hoping for a boy because we have many girls in our family. A boy is what I would love to see, but deep down all I really want is a healthy child who is happy. The majority of people attending wanted a boy. 

Terry and I picked up Mallory and we all drove to the ranch, known as Wolf Tree Ranch, owned by my daughter and her husband, John. They have put many weeks of work into creating an amazing venue for our wedding and the reveal. It is gorgeous!

Once we arrived, we saw a large group of people. Most were family, either on our side or on Keenan's dad's side. Many were people I had not seen in years. Then you get the awkwardness of, "Wait. Who is that?" Many had changed so much it was difficult to recognize them. 

We regained some sort of familiarity with people and the party began. The theme of the reveal was "What will the baby bee?" Not exact words, but close enough to give you the gist. Katie looked wonderful! She was glowing, of course, as most expectant mothers are. Elana, their daughter, was running around playing with other children, but she held a sense of sheer excitement that she was going to be the big sister. Keenan and Katie were sharing the news with her and keeping her included. 

Proud parents to be, Keenan and Katie.

The party was catered by Subway. Marina had made some awesome strawberry lemonade and lemonade to go with the many options of drinks she had put out for the party. There were bags of chips and other choices of side dishes to go with the sandwiches. It was so good and a nice meal to serve at a function like this. Perfect, as always. 

There were about 40 people attending the gathering. As I said, most were family, with a small blend of friends.

John had crafted this beautiful pergola for our wedding, and for other weddings in the future. Pathways had been dug, rocks placed sporadically, and plants planted to spruce up the entire setting. It was gorgeous! But I was most excited to see the view that we would be seeing during our ceremony on Saturday. This is why Terry and I wanted to be married on the ranch. There will be more photos and more to come in the wedding post.

The decor was adorable. Keenan and Katie and Elana had shirts on, coordinating with the theme.

Guests were encouraged to grab a pin to place on their shirts, displaying their choice of gender. Mine, of course, was Team Boy. 

Keenan and Katie began the process of set up. They were using "cannons" to fire out the correct colored powder, revealing what gender the baby would be. Keenan had a friend help out so he would not know the sex until it was revealed to all. His friend had loaded the canons and taken precautions to not allow anyone a view of the color. Now I was getting excited!

Watching them set things up was getting too suspenseful! I couldn't wait!

He or She? What will you bee? ......

You could cut through the tension with a knife. Everybody was standing there, watching the setup, holding their breath until the canons were fired. Come on, blue! 

They were finally ready. Keenan and Katie took aim out toward the crowd. Little Elana held the large black balloon in tiny hands. What would it be?

Suddenly, a small "boom" sounded. The canons had fired ...

It's a GIRL!!! 

What a beautiful experience it was to share in the excitement. My grandson has grown into a wonderful man. He's kind, loving, and a good daddy. Congratulations to Keenan and Katie and big sister Elana!