We had a great party at S.O.S. earlier this month, celebrating three birthday kids. 1 yr old Jazlynn,  11 yr old Brandon and a 3 yr old boy. We had a full house! It was great to have 20 kids there to party with.The children played pin the feather on the turkey, in which they each wrote one thing they were thankful for on the feather before they pinned it. So much fun!  The kids also played three rounds of musical chairs, which always remains the favorite activity.  They made candy necklaces, each got a balloon.  We finished up with  cupcakes and juice! The birthday kids loved their gifts and were all smiles.

Special thank you to Jessica Sandahl for making delicious cupcakes for the kids, and Shawnette Scott for the goody bags loved by the kids.

We had our October party at St. Francis the beginning of the month. We all had a fun time while we celebrated with our 16 year old birthday boy.  All the children received their own pumpkin and loved carving and decorating them. There were all different sizes and colors. Our birthday boy sure enjoyed his gift card, shirt. However, the giant bags of Cheetos seemed to be the all time favorite!  Cake and ice cream was delicious and enjoyed by all.  The goody bags were full of pumpkin lights, lollipops, and mummy candy bars!

A huge thank you to Amy & Harvey Taylor, Laurie LeCours, & Betti & Nate Bechtold for donating their time and gifts. We and the children appreciate you!

Our July parties started off with a great celebration at St. Francis.  We had about 13 kids in addition to our two birthday boys, ages 5 &7.  Each child was able to decorate their own wooden picture frame with paint, stickers, and sea shells. The weather was nice so we were able to take advantage of the outdoors, so we went into the sunshine and played water balloon toss games which was loads of fun. Next the kids played a game of octopus tag which ran out some of that great kid energy. When it was all over, we went back inside for cake, ice cream, goody bags and gifts.

Thanks to Debby Case for continuing to provide unique pillows for our birthday children.  Our five year old Cloud loved his car's themed toys and clothes and 7 year old Devin enjoyed his batman outfit and legos. They were all smiles! 

Special thank you Shawnette Scott and the McDougal Family, our volunteers and donors.

Last Friday we had a great time celebrating the kids at S.O. S. We had five birthday kids to celebrate. A 4 yr. old girl and 9, 12, 14, and 18 year old boys! This was the most we have had at one time and it was great. The kids started off the evening with a scavenger hunt which took them to every room and hiding place possible, all leading up to finding the prizes at the end. Laughter and excitement definitely was a great way to start off this party. Next, the kids played a couple rounds of charades which was fun and a wonderful way to break out of their shells. We concluded the games with the all-time favorite of musical chairs. The kids can never get enough of this fun, competitive game.

Cupcakes and ice cream were delicious. Cupcakes were decorated in baseballs, basketballs, as well as some adorable flower and pink pearl frosted ones too! They almost looked too pretty to eat, but that didn't stop anyone. They were delicious.

The kids loved their gifts. From Lego's, basketballs, pillows and books to princess dolls and color books, they were all very pleased.

Thank you to Maria Garcilazo for sponsoring this party, as well as Christine DuVal for the most amazing cupcakes. We were also blessed to have Josh and Yvette Graves help out as well. We would also like to thank Debby Case x2, for the beautiful pillows made especially for each birthday child. They are something the kids really look forward to.

Yesterday was a great day for a party. We were so fortunate to be able to celebrate 11 year old Destiny's birthday. We had a smaller group of about 10 kids and lots of fun to go around.  We started off making candy necklaces with gummy lifesavers, peaches, fruit loops, pretzels, and more. Next, everyone enjoyed cake and ice cream.  Thanks to Melody, the library coordinator at St. Francis, for baking such yummy treats.  Our birthday girl loved her monster high doll, book, and craft kits, donated by Julie McDonald and Amy Taylor. We then played a few rounds of birthday bingo. Everyone recieved a bingo and a box of Girl Scout cookies!  We concluded with three games of musical chairs, which was highly competitive and brought lots of laughs and smiles.

Thank you to all of our volunteers and donors, and the Girl Scouts for those tasty cookies.

Last Friday we celebrated May birthdays with the kids at S.O.S.This party was loaded with birthday kids.  There were four children with birthdays to celebrate. We had girls ages 4, 5, & 6, as well as a 16 year old boy.

We started off with birthday bingo. There were lots of games and lots of bingo's and prizes.  This was fun for the whole family. Whiteaker Middle School Choir Director, Andy Thomas, did an amazing interactive song/game with everyone about the rain and storms.  Before it was over, everyone, adults and kids were making sounds with their hands. It was so cool.  The children loved it. Then the kids divided into two groups and took turns playing a hot potato gift game and making necklaces with their names on it. Many prizes were won and smiles were everywhere!

Everyone then enjoyed vanilla and chocolate cupcakes! Three of our birthday kids were able to be there for their party and were so thankful for the celebration.  Every child there received their own personalized goody bag while the birthday kids enjoyed all their gifts. We were told by one of the parents that this was their daughters first birthday party ever as they have never been able to afford one. What a great feeling to bring joy to these deserving kids.

Another big thank you to Whiteaker Middle School Choir and Andy Thomas, Julie Motley, and their students who sponsored a fun filled evening for the kids.

Last weekend was great as we celebrated May birthdays at St. Francis. We celebrated with lots of kids and our birthday girl, turning 4. The weather was perfect and warm and we were able to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. First off, the children enjoyed playing some hula hoop race games and next it was off to hit the princess pinata.  This was by far the favorite.  The kids each took turns with the bat. When the candy finally all came out, it was a race to see how much they could get! Lots of fun. Next, we enjoyed cake and ice cream and watched our birthday girl unwrap her gifts.

She absolutely loved her new Dora the Explorer bicycle as well as her pillow and play-dough. 

As always, a gracious thank you to our donors Kori Deter and Tina Sazama for a wonderful cake, Lincoln Hathaway for gifts, Shawnette Scott for goody bags, and Debby Case for her comfy homemade the pillow! 

We had a great spring party with the kids at S.O.S. last Friday. Although there were no April birthdays, we were able to celebrate all the children! There were 12 choir students that attended and helped organize the party. We divided the children into two groups. Some started off with games including a balloon relay, and a layered gift passing game, while they others thoroughly enjoy...ed making candy necklaces! These seemed to be the favorite!

Next, we were fortunate to hear the choir perform a few hit songs for us. Their voices were simply beautiful. Each child also received their very own gift and goody bag which included beach towels and flip flops for everyone of them. We ended with everyone enjoying cake and juice. The kids were all smiles.

We are so thankful for all of our volunteers and the hard work they did organizing this party. Thank you to Whiteaker Middle School Choir and New Hope Four Square Church for sponsoring this party, as well as Julie Motley, Andy Thomas, Sonya and Ray Blair and Amy Abel for your dedication and big hearts! 

We kicked off springtime with a great party at St. Francis Sunday 4/1/12. We celebrated with nearly 20 kids!  We were so fortunate to have a big bunch of volunteers, which included adults and kids! The children enjoyed an Easter egg hunt. The colorful plastic eggs contained lots of little yummy surprises inside. The children as well as adults loved the temporary tattoos of Disney and movie characters. They were sure a hit.  The cupcakes were fun and festive and the big one was so creative, decorated in an Easter theme.  Our 13 year old birthday boy enjoyed unwrapping his gifts, which included a new skateboard, helmet, and pads, as well as a book, football and Oregon duck pillow (made and donated by Debby Case).
 
We concluded with a couple rounds of musical chairs which never gets old.  The winners each received a box of Girl Scout cookies. It was such a fun time. Thank you to the Girl Scouts for donating over 40 boxes of cookies to us!  Also, thank you to Maps Credit union who donated the goody bags for this month's party as well as thank you to our sponsors and donors, Bonnie & Caity Arias and Debbie Irey, and our many volunteers including: Bobbie Concepcion, Paethon Takai, Rodney Walsingham, Patrick Takai, Alfonso Takai, Eric Yang and Joella Pargas, and Erica Anderson. We appreciate you all!

Our March birthday party at the YWCA shelter was a huge success thanks to the Silverton Girl Scouts who not only sponsored the entire party, but also attended and helped with the entire event! The Girl Scouts were also kind enough to generously donate the proceeds of their annual cookie sales to buy gifts for the birthday children.
 
We celebrated the birthdays of three beautiful children (two six year olds and a two year old) and it was a wonderfully boisterous and fun time for everyone. All of the kids, including the Girl Scouts, played party games and enjoyed birthday cake and ice cream. We also received an anonymous donation of additional birthday gifts for the three children. Thank you to that special person whoever you are!
 
There was also a very special moment when one of the birthday girls tugged on the shirt of a volunteer and said, "This is my best birthday ever!"  It doesn't get any better than that.

We had a great party last Sunday at St. Francis.  Thanks to the beautiful weather, we were able to go outside and enjoy the sunshine. We celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday with a green eggs and ham theme.We started off with a green egg relay race which was challenging and lots of fun. Next the kids enjoyed an egg toss game.  We then came inside for some crafts and bookmaker making fun!  Our birthday boy and girl, each turning 6, were blessed with new clothes, shoes, and many fun toys.  Cupcakes with gummy worms and candy were a favorite among the many children, in addition to the yummy ice cream.

Thank you to Sheronne Blasi, our St. Francis Shelter Coordinator, for such great party planning. A very special thank you to Shawnette Scott and her family for sponsoring the party in memory of her late husband.