What a Party!
Well, Saturday turned out to be the event of the season...at least in our household! Saturday afternoon our friends and family got together and celebrated Madeline's birthday, and just enjoyed some time together.

We had quite the spread of food, and I think it's safe to say that everyone enjoyed the fruit of Mike's labor over the grill. There are countless reasons why I am fortunate to have married this man, and I have to say, having his mad grilling skills at my disposal definitely makes the list! Slow-cooked chicken, twice-baked potatoes, southwest eggrolls, chicken spinach and asiago brats...this man can cook, and Saturday we all reaped the benefits!

Madeline had plenty of friends to enjoy between church friends, school friends and cousins. Here are some of the girls playing in her bedroom before the party got rolling.
Timothy had some friends to run with too. Here he is with his buddy AJ, who is only a few months older, but fortunately for us, a good size or two ahead of Timothy. In fact, Timothy is wearing some of AJ's hand-me-downs in this picture. We're so grateful that Lisa dresses him so well =)

Madeline decided that she wanted a Tinkerbell party. So, plates, napkins, balloons and cake were all decked out with Tinkerbell. Here she is before blowing out her candles.
There's no way better to round up the kids than the promise of candy. Here's Madeline taking a whack at her pinata, and a picture of the whole bunch of kids making a mad scramble for the goodies it held.

One of the treats of the day for me was enjoying the favor of my "neice" Cora, who reached out for me every time I was around, and spent a good part of her time at the party on my hip! I sure love being loved =)

Madeline was very blessed to receive so many beautiful things for her birthday. She got lots of beautiful clothes,

a camera of her own,
some scrapbooking supplies,
some Tinkerbell figurines,

decorations for her highly fashionable crocs,

her own Bible, complete with her name on the cover, from Mimi and Papa, and lots of other nice things!
The kids enjoyed running around together and jumping on the trampoline. When things settled down a bit, Timothy did some reading for Grandma Elaine.
After everyone was gone, Madeline tried on some of her new clothes, and especially had fun dressing up like a pioneer girl complete with her new bonnet. She is looking forward to reading all about Kirsten and starting the "American Girls" series of books.
Since Madeline's birthday was actually on Friday, our family decided to have a celebration on Friday night before all our company arrived the next day. Here she is in the jogging suit we got for her,
and here in her new outfit and sporting her cool new roller blades!
We went out to dinner and had some fun at Chuck E. Cheese, here is little brother with a balloon from our night out,

and getting a hug from big sis!
Last weekend, some friends from church called and asked if we wanted to head over and visit a "Pumpkin Wonderland." Here are Madeline and Timothy with their friend Payton who they had lots of fun with that evening.
They got to go through a corn maze.
The whole family enjoyed some dinner together.
The kids put the back of their placemats to good use.

Timothy's hard work...
Madeline's masterpiece.....
Mommy's one track mind....
The kids had a great time and stayed busy til they hit their pillows that night. Everyone slept well and enjoyed the beautiful fall evening!
Well, there's an update....I'm off to study!

-shannon