Candle Lighting

I wanted to post just a few more pictures from the Bat Mitzvah. However, there are so many gorgeous images that it's going to take me a few posts to get through them.

Paris wanted a candle lighting so she wrote 13 short poems and invited some of her favorite people up to light a candle. She did one for Dave's dad, who passed away far too young, for her friend Cayman Sophie, for our travel friends, for her grandparents, for her first cousins and aunts and uncles and on and on.

I love the abstractness of this first picture. You can also see the mink teddy bear we gave her that night. Dave's grandma was an exceptionally fashionable woman and, in fact, had a women's dress shop in Napa for 52 years. When she passed away, my mother-in-law had the brilliant idea of turning two of her fur coats into teddy bears as keepsakes for her great grand-daughters. Apparently a furrier in New York makes a good living at this! Paris spent a lot of time with her great grandmother so this was an incredibly meaningful gesture and gift to her. I love how at ease she is with public speaking. You can see the mike in her hand here. That's a gift from Dave!

This second shot is of Paris and my parents. For some reason my mom does not often smile in pictures. I had my hair done this week and my colorist, who my mother also sees, told me how much my mom enjoyed Dave's toast at the party, and how she was brought to tears. This must have been taken before the crying.

This last picture here is of Dave's sister and brother-in-law, and two daughters. Everyone should have an aunt like my SIL; Paris just adores her and goes to sleep away camp with her cousins, who are 6 months and 2 years older than her.