Bat Mitzva Party

My cousins daughter, so my 1st cousin once removed, turned 13 recently and seeing as she is Jewish, she had a Bat Mitzva in which she participated in the services at her Synagogue. She did absolutely wonderful and I discovered that she has a most beautiful voice, much like my cousins. I was thoroughly impressed that she has learned Hebrew so well and learned to sing from the Torah better than most of the adults. Way to go Elizabeth!
I was also impressed that Nikolas and Lukas sat in the Synagogue with Tone' and I for an hour and a half so quietly that many people came up to us afterward and complimented us on their behavior. It was amazing. Though, I suppose they may have been entranced with the Torah reading and singing as even though it was nearly all in Hebrew, I enjoyed listening to the beauty of it all.
If any of you have ever been to a Bar or Bat Mitzva then you know this: Jewish people know how to through parties! We were served a delicious lunch with desserts after the service, then there was a few hours break until we all met again at the Canby fairgrounds where the party really started! The theme was "Cowboy" or "girl" rather, as my cousin is a girl. There was food, drinks, a make-your-own ice cream sundae buffet, a professional photographer who took everyone's picture and then framed it, a candy buffet (oh yes, that's right, a buffet filled with all sorts of candy for the taking!), toys for the kids, a deejay, a line dance teacher and sooooo much more. It was quite fun, to say the least. And here are some of the pictures of the day:

My little cowboys

Rebecca and her Italian Stallion
nice hat:)

Yeehaw!!!

Could Luke be any cuter with the hat and the shiny little boots?!

Oh how they wanted to climb into this wagon

Lukas and cousin Morgan

There were tables set up to color your own horse bandana. Nikolas joined Aunt Karen, Abby and Morgan as they colored away.

Uncle John and Lukas looking like tough cowboys

We all went for a walk to check out the animals at the fairgrounds.
I just love this picture.
I can totally imagine Nikolas living on a farm wearing a cowboy hat and boots everywhere.


Then we went back inside for some dancing and rocking out!
Nikolas was hilarious as he started copying the older kids and soon he
was on spinning on the floor on his back while jamming on his guitar.

Now it's time for some Uncle Chad love.
The boys were so pumped full of sugar and fun that by the time we made it home at 10:00 at night they were STILL... not asleep.