Summer Block Party!

...aka Chet's 4th Annual Client Appreciation Event!!

Such a fun day, and I love all these bright and cheery photos...

Dad was impressed when he heard about Chet hosting this event, commenting on what a nice idea it is... and it's true!  This year, they had Shane's kettle corn truck, Karen's face-painting table, handmade soaps, balloon animals, H-Tea-O, and the flower truck! 

Miles was so happy about the Spider-Man face paint. =)  Other pics = Melissa and Karli, Shane getting the kettle corn ready, Chet and Parker, and the Foster fam!

I was so glad to see the Fosters and get to chat with them for a while!

Hope Renee was loving her "doggy princess" face paint and pink balloon dog! ❤

Gretyl, the Gas Petal Flower Truck where you create your own bouquet... fun!  *A few of these are photos taken by Chet's photographer neighbor, Steve Doak, whose logo is in the bottom right corner.  Chet shared the link with me because he knew I'd appreciate it. lol

The soaps all smelled great... I plan to write a "glimpse" post on this event focusing on the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures - fun!  Colorful balloons just add so much joy and whimsy to photos, don't you think!?

Parker E. and Sophia sharing some kettle corn on their tiny lawn chairs... adorable!

GET OUT already - this is so much cuteness!!

I had a required all-day school seminar for CCU on Saturday.  I got confused about the time difference and accidentally got up 2 hours earlier than I had to, which is pretty tragic!! lol  I grabbed an early breakfast at Panera, then the Wilsons were kind enough to let me set up in Chet's office for my seminar.  It went from 9:30 to 5:00pm with a lunch break from 12:45-2:00, which worked out well for me to be there for the first hour of Chet's event and see the Fosters, Melissa, classic and extended-fam Wilsons, Myers, Shoemakers, and more! 

The seminar included a psychopathology lecture, a live counseling demonstration, and a Zoom group discussion about mental health diagnoses, but it was a small group where I felt comfortable speaking up and topics where I had something real to say, so that was nice.  I laughed when I noticed Chet's Trump mug behind me on the Zoom screen... (and promptly adjusted myself a little to the left to cover it). lol 
P.S. How much do I love this sparkly headband!?

Chet's "Popcorn King" pic makes me happy, as does him having his very own "Chet's Cinna-mix" flavor.  Allison created this cool painting of the Tulsa skyline for a giveaway drawing.  Hooray for catching up with Kristin and Miles (who hugged me right when he saw me)... and talking  about counseling programs with Mark (and Harvey)!

When I came downstairs after 5:00, the event was over and the Wilsons were getting ready to meet Shane at Whataburger.  I joined them just to hang out and chat, which was fun times.  Tate was confused about why I was sitting a table over (they're stationary so we couldn't pull them together) and asked if I was scared of this spider (he chose a spider on his arm instead of face paint)! lol  ...I wouldn't put it past me to keep my distance based on a fake spider.

After that, I met Sarah Elizabeth at Charleston's at 7:30 for my real dinner!  Chet had asked about what we usually get - mine is always potato soup and salad + croissant... and I correctly predicted that Sarah would have their "perfect margarita" and a steak! lol

We talked for around 3 hours and got caught up on all of life... it was good to see her and encouraging to hear her thoughts on embryo adoption and motherhood.  I took a tiny minute to post a few photos from the day then started my drive back to Moore! 

*Since I can't find it on the blog, and we all know I document all the things, I must have missed last year's Client Appreciation event (possibly the weekend Holly was in town).  But I was there for 2020 and 2021, which feels vivid in my memory as it was the day Dad went into the hospital with septic pneumonia.  I remember standing across the street and taking that phone call from Rachael, then quietly telling Chet and Karli and Teresa why I had to leave... they said they'd be praying, and Chet gave me some kettle corn for the road trip to OKC.  Thankfully, this year's event didn't involve any unexpected drama.  And in spite of me getting up at 5am and getting home after midnight, the seminar was better than expected and I saw several of my favorite people, so it was a pretty great day from start to finish!!

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤