Birthday Weekend!

2nd annual Cole Cocoa and Karaoke night....

 We celebrated January birthdays on Sunday at our Karaoke party. ( Laila, Truman, Christine, Wayne, Garret and Ryan)  I love that we get together and sing our brains out, laugh at each other and just have a great time.    Singers included:  Truman, Landon, Laila, Melinda, Marcie, Angela, Adam, Liz, Nelson, Jenna -- many times....she is the Ultimate queen of Karaoke....., Rachel, Becca and Preston....

Alex, Landon, Jenna, Laila...all watching Truman rock Justin Beiber

Christine, Adam and Sheri are amazed.....

 Marcie cranks up  Mama Mia....while the group sips their cocoa....  Another awesome participant with an amazing vibrato is Preston Brown.  He just sings and sings.  I love that.

 Dad is hiding out in the corner...  I think he is trying to find some peace.

 Everyone is enjoying the performances.....even Casey and Nelson...they are sneaking in the NFL playoff game on the ipad.  Laila received many great gifts...$, Kevas, Hair stuff etc...Grandma Sheri and Grandpa Lyle gave Laila art lessons.

Laila had more in store for this birthday weekend.  This really isn't Laila's year to have a party...but with Truman turning 22 and Laila 11-- the year Harry got admitted to Hogwarts-- we knew we had to have a Harry Potter Party extravaganza.   Laila has been helping me with elaborate plans...most of which we couldn't do.  She wanted a real owl to deliver a Hogwarts acceptance letter to her.  She thought a pulley in the ceiling of the living room running to a the family room would help us to have broom races.  She also wanted transformations to happen and real spells.   We settled on a Harry Potter trivia game.  

 Truman and Laila only wanted real Harry Potter enthusiasts to come to their party.   Laila would weed people out by asking them, " What  is Hermoine's patronous?"  If they said, "what's a patronous?", or they didn't know, she would cross them off the list.  We ended up with a few awesome cousins and some of Truman's friends.  

Everyone came in Harry Potter costumes.  They had to enter by running through the brick wall at platform 9 3/4. We had butter beer out of golden deer goblets, golden snitch cupcakes with wings, Bertie Bott's many flavored jelly beans, lemon drops from Honey Dukes and Hagrid's veggies.

We decorated for the Tri Wizard Cup, and had balloon owls filling the ceiling.  We had a competition of the 1st years vs. the Prefects for the trivia game..the 1st years won.  

Truman came as Cedric Diggery in his yellow and gray and Laila was Voldemort....oooo scary!

Raising our golden deer goblets filled with butter beer.

"Tru ...what's the answer...what's the answer....??"

 Truman's group included Cedric,  Fluffy the 3 headed dog, Harry Potter, Hermione, Luna, Cho Change, Belatrix and assundry Hogwarts people.

 Laila's cousin group featured, Moaning Myrtle ( Kylie) , Ron ( Alex) , Trelawny(Savannah), Luna (Hunter), Dobby the house elf (Nash)  and Voldemort of course.

A happy Voldemort.....she got a quill pen and ink set and a wax letter sealer and stamp...and a Hogwarts acceptance letter!