Thanksgiving & a Quinceanera

This past week was Thanksgiving and Lucy’s Quinceanera. It was all so much fun! Katie took it upon herself to cook Thanksgiving dinner for 50 people. This included volunteers, tias, night tias, therapist, administration, the Rosero family, Genaro and Ana Maria, and all the children that could eat it. I offered to make invites and help Katie in the kitchen. We started preparing food weeks in advance. Good thing too! It cost us $300 and 3 turkeys later! Along with 3 turkeys we had; 4 stuffing’s, 4 green bean casseroles, over 100 homemade rolls, sweet potatoes, corn, and about 100 potatoes for mashed potatoes. It was insane! I don’t know how Katie and I pulled it off but we did! Everyone loved it. The tias kept going back for more and took plates home. It was so funny watching them! While cleaning up, I walked into the kitchen and Laura along with the tias were scraping the turkey bones clean! They were not letting any food go to waste. I’m so happy everyone enjoyed dinner and were able to enjoy themselves. They even had a dance party going afterwards. Everyone was out on the cancha busting a move. It was great seeing the tias having such a great time. Even Catalina was out there! She’s got one killer salsa! It was a lot of work but seeing the tias, other workers, and the children’s faces made it all worth it! Happy Thanksgiving OSSO 2015!

6 pounds of green beans for green bean casserole

 

16 loafs of bread for stuffing

 

Making stuffing bulk size

 

Sweet Potatoes

Stuffing my {first} Thanksgiving turkey!

Frank, Bob, & Tom

Perfection!

Rodrigo and Catalina cutting the turkeys

Rodrigo had never cut a turkey before

Catalina cut that thing like a champ

 

100 potatoes... try cooking that many potatoes!

Manual mashing of the potatoes

 

Getting everything ready for dinner

 

Happy Thanksgiving 2015!!

Lucy’s Quinceanera was so much fun! I loved every minute of it, although it could have gone a little smoother. The afternoon was complete chaos! I wasn’t able to help get Lucy ready because I was busy decorating and blowing up balloons because our party committee did nothing for it. Lucy was getting in a bad mood. She had stayed in her chair all lunch, only lying on the mat to change her clothes. She didn’t have papilla and was stuck inside until we started. I felt so bad that she wasn’t very happy. The Quinceanera was very cool. We did a procession with all the children, Lucy leading the way with Gabi bringing in the rear. Martin C. was Lucy’s escort. He wore his church clothes with a pick rose boutonniere to go along with his pink tie. He was very excited and took his role very seriously. I walked behind Lucy and Martin holding her tiara on a heart pillow. Jenny, Carmita, and Pache walked behind me with all the other goodies. We did the procession and then started the program. Lorena said a little something and then Laura said a little something. Soraya conducted the program. This is how it went if I remember right…

1.       Procession
2.       Speech about Lucy
3.       Carmita to put on new shoes. She kept kicking Carmita so Jenny had to help her!
4.       Jenny to place garter on her leg
5.       Pache to give bouquet of pink flowers. Lucy didn’t want to hold them so Pache stuck in between her belts!
6.       I placed her tiara which I had bought for her big day!
7.       I also had to put on makeup, which only consisted of blush and little bit of lipstick. Lucy was not very happy at this point!
8.       Lucy dances with Martin and then everyone joins in. Tina (volunteer) pushed Lucy and Ana Maria pushed Martin as they danced.
9.       Everyone serenades Lucy with a special Latin song
10.   We have cake and sing “Feliz Cumpleanos” to Lucy

I think that was it as far as the program went. We had cake, jello, and lots of snacks and goodies. And of course, more dancing! Lucy was in and out of having a good time but when she smiled, I knew she knew it was her big day! I know she felt like a princess because she looked just like a princess! She was beautiful! Happy 15^th Birthday Lucy Lou! Your “Gringa Madrina” loves you very much!

My mother mentioned something that had me thinking all week long. As a kid I collected “I Love Lucy” memorabilia and collected a lot it. I loved watching “I Love Lucy” and I loved Lucille Ball. She was so much fun and full of laughter. Once I started collecting I thought how cute Lucy was for a girl’s name. It stuck with me and then one Sunday I had went to church with my parents in Mesquite and there was a new family in the ward. They had a little girl whose name was Lucy, Lucy Jones, Dr. Jones daughter. After seeing how cute that little girl was and how not old the name was, I was sold that I would name my girl Lucy!

Whelp! Here I am at 29 years old with no baby girl named Lucy. I try to email family and friends as much as I can here so I’ve mentioned Lucy before. Last week I mentioned how I was asked to be her godmother. My mother responded to my email saying, “Maybe this is the Lucy you always wanted. You always wanted a Lucy so maybe this is her.” How right is she! I couldn’t help but think that this possibly could be the Lucy God has blessed me with. Perhaps she is mine. The reason why I was asked to be her godmother over everyone else. Maybe my mother is right. This is my Lucy that I’ve always wanted. She is sassy, stubborn, knows what she wants, and knows how to get it. And cries when she wants food! Lucy and I are very similar. If this is the Lucy that I mother, then I am a very blessed woman. I love my Lucy Lou!!