We got to attend several birthday parties. Emma's school friend, Lalie, invited Emma to her 5th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's.
And Hallie's friend, Matthew (in the center, surrounded by the ladies), had his 3rd birthday party at the park. It was hot and no one was happy about taking this picture. LOL!
Matthew is our church friend, Cessia's, son. Cessia has been babysitting Hallie two days a week since our last babysitter, Jessica, got pregnant and began feeling sick all day, the poor thing. Cessia offered to help with Hallie temporarily since she was in between jobs, and she's been a blessing to us. Hallie will start at an in-home daycare next week, just as Cessia begins her new job. God's timing is perfect!
We also attended our nephew, Micah's, 1st birthday party! He loved the cake his mom made!
We recently attended a talent show that Micah's older brothers entered their art in. Our nephew, Nathan (on the right), also performed a drum duet and did a fantastic job!
We've had some fun playdates, too. Hallie's former babysitter, Jessica's family was moving to a new house, so we babysat her boys on moving day.
Emma's school friend, Elisha, and his mom, Jenna, invited us to join them for a scavenger hunt around downtown Norfolk.
Then we ended our outing by riding the ferry around the harbor.
Dan and I celebrated our 15th anniversary in May, and Dan's parents were nice enough to babysit the girls all day so we could enjoy a date at Busch Gardens!
We rode so many rollercoasters!
By the evening, I couldn't stomach any more. Ugh!
But Dan was undeterred - he rode three more on his own before we headed home.
We had a lovely Mother's Day with my mom.
The girls looking beautiful. I'm so very grateful to God for making me their mother!
We are now proud owners of a Honda Odyssey minivan! We searched for about a month before we purchased exactly what we were looking for. It's a 2005 with less than 90,000 miles on it, and we're hoping it lasts our family for many years.
It has a DVD player, which the girls will love on our longer road trips. As soon as we had the van in our driveway, they wanted to climb all through it and sit and watch a movie in it. Heh!
I ran the Corporate 5k in Norfolk with my coworkers one evening after work.
And a few days later, Dan and I ran the Chick-Fil-A 5k with Dan's brother, Tim, sister-in-law, Dawn, and their sons, Benjamin and Nathan. Chick-Fil-A provided lots of fun entertainment for the younger kids while we were running. Dan's parents stayed with them so they could pet the farm animals, jump in the bounce houses, and play the other games.
We took a family photo after the race.
Our family friend, Christina, was married during Memorial Day weekend. I love this picture of her, her groom, Matt, and Dan's parents, who have been adoptive grandparents to Christina.
All the Jester adults at Christina's reception
And finally, it was the end of the school year at StoneBridge School. Emma's class had a spring performance, and she danced and jumped through the entire thing. That girl is not shy on stage!
Emma's wonderful K-4 teacher, Mrs. Baines, gave Emma a classroom award for "dependability."
Dan and I attended Chrysalis, which is the formal dance for StoneBridge's Juniors and Seniors.
And we all attended the high school graduation ceremony. Except Hallie wanted to talk at the top of her lungs through the service, so I took the girls outside to play during most of it and we joined everyone at the reception afterwards.
Now that school is finished, we're looking forward to lots of family fun this summer!
