Cousin Gabrielle's birthday party

On May 6th was Dave's niece, Gabrielle's, 8th birthday party.  We were very lucky that Dave had the weekend off so we could go, both to visit my friend Maggie on the 5th and to Gabrielle's party on the 6th.  Unfortunately, my legs won't allow me to drive that far on my own so we were praying that Dave wouldn't have to work.

Miss Gabrielle was the belle of the ball...

The theme was Monster High and, once again, my ridiculously talented sister-in-law, Kathy, made a gorgeous cake!

 

  

And, per Jones family tradition... we got pics of the kids around the cake...

 

 Then it was time for presents...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course the kids had a lot of fun playing... it was a beautiful day - not too hot, not too cold!

 

 

 

 

Since Amerah and Luke often butt heads, I was really happy to see them playing together and helping each other...

 

 

The adults had fun too... 

 

 My adorable nephew, Paul, was kind enough to actually WEAR the balloon hat that Amerah made for him :-)

 

 

My other, equally adorable nephew, Lance, is getting ready to head out for another 6 month (I believe) stint singing on a cruise ship!

 

My handsome nephew Luke...

Cousins... Gabrielle is also wearing a hat that Amerah made... As a matter of fact, Gabrielle LOVED this hat!  It makes me laugh, I'll be sure to hold onto this picture for their high school graduations...

The beautiful birthday girl...

 

 

What a fun day!

A visit 25 years in the making...

On May 5th, Dave, Amerah, and I drove out to Hastings Michigan to visit an old friend of mine.  Maggie and I were close as could be when I was 10 years old and living in Hillsdale.  We saw each other briefly when I was a young teenager and my mom and I stopped during one of our travels.

Sometimes it amazes me how you can not see someone for so long and when you do you just look at them and realize, "Oh yeah, that's why we were friends."  And you realize that that spark of friendship is still there.

(Doesn't my hubby kinda look like a stalker in the background there? Hehehehehe!)

It was also nice to see Maggie's mom again, and she is lovely as ever...

We traveled to Hastings to celebrate a wonderfully creative endeavor that Maggie and her 11 year old daughter, Mary Kate had pursued together.  They had published a children's story titled "Sara Dippity."  The story was written by Maggie and all of the illustrations were done by Mary Kate.  It's a cute little story and Amerah loved it!  Of course we bought a copy, especially since all of the proceeds go to Mary Kate's college fund (isn't that a fantastic idea?!).

Mary Kate's artwork is also hanging in a prominent place at a local pub.  She is one talented kid!

Amerah quickly made friends with the kids there... especially Mary Kate (in the middle).

 

 

Before we knew it, Amerah and Mary Kate were on their way to becoming besties...

 

 

 

 

 

They had a lot of fun posing with the sculpture in front of the pub... which we affectionately called Voldemort...

 

 

 

 

We were sad to go, the girls were lamenting the 2 hour drive one way to see each other :-(
But what a wonderful time we had seeing old friends and making new!