Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Party Time!

Wow, the month of April flew because of all the special events and parties! Here are pictures of the many highlights.

We missed Dan like crazy the first week of April while he was touring Europe with his Senior Class.  We got to FaceTime or call him every night, which was a huge blessing. He sent us pictures of the amazing places he visited in France, Italy, Germany, and the Czech Republic so we could experience it vicariously. 
The Eiffel Tower in Paris

The Coliseum in Rome

Gondola Ride in Venice
 
In the meantime, Emma's class was ramping up for Spring Break by having a special Noah's Ark week.  The kids had stories, snacks, crafts, and special (animal) visitors all week. On Friday, they got to dress up as animals and their parents and families were invited.
We dressed up as a bear, a ladybug, and a pony.

I'm pretty proud of Emma's homemade pony costume, made with a hooded sweat shirt, yarn, and foam board for the ears. I don't really enjoy crafts, but I am going to have to get over that if we don't want to spend unnecessary money on all her school projects and events. For the next 14 years. (sigh)

A view from the front.

The special guest in her classroom that day was a miniature pig!

Emma's class, dressed up for Noah's Ark Day.

After the half day at school, we joined a couple of the kids and their moms at Chick-Fil-A for lunch.
 
April is the busiest birthday month for our family. We had so many celebrations!


Two of our nephews had a joint birthday party.  Aaron (shown on the right side of the picture, looking at the cake) and Josiah (sitting on the right side just below Aaron) had birthdays in March, but we weren't able to get together to celebrate until April 1st.

The cousins played all evening together, and the younger kids pretended they were camping. They'd collect their pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals and move to different rooms in the house to camp out.
 
Next, it was Dan's mom (Grandma's) birthday!
 
We went to her house to play, went to the playground, and then had dinner with all the family to celebrate with her.

A couple of days after Grandma's birthday party, the best thing happened:
Dan came home from Europe!

After two weeks overseas, his group had a layover in Atlanta, GA, only to have their flight cancelled because of bad weather! They were stuck for an extra night in Atlanta, and had to ride a charter bus for 10 hours to make it home the next day since flights were still cancelled. He was exhausted, but so happy to be home!
 
Our niece, Meera's, 2nd birthday was in April, too! Unfortunately we didn't get to celebrate with her in person, since she lives in Boston.
 
This little girl has a zest for life! She is the sweetest thing, and we wish we got to see her more often!
 
Emma's 4th birthday came next, which you can read about here.

And the next event was Easter. The girls got prettied up in their Easter dresses.


We made a few attempts at a good family photo at church, and these were the best we could do.
The girls were more interested in each other than the camera.

 
The girls got Easter gift bags, since I forgot to buy baskets.
Hallie is not sure what to do with her gift bag.
 

She got a shape-sorter bath toy!

Emma got new Play Doh and Play Doh toys.
 
She loves her My Little Pony Play Doh mold.

After church, we headed to Tim and Dawn's house for Easter dinner and an Easter egg hunt. Our older nephews, Benjamin and Nathan, very kindly waited to give the younger kids a head start finding eggs.


 
The next birthday party was for my dad (Papa)!
We took him to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.

 And enjoyed Nothing Bundt Cake for dessert! Yum!
 
Our niece, Miriam, also turned 2 years old and we had a fun party at her house to celebrate.
 It was perfect weather for the pool.

She was the cutest thing blowing out her candles!


 
Dan's dad (Grandpa's) birthday came at the end of the month, and we celebrated his birthday along with Miriam's.

It was a party-filled whirlwind of a month! 

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