Busy Sunday

We had a fairly busy Sunday and I'm glad the kids are in bed! My sunburned legs are aching something terrible this evening......................and it's my own fault! UGH!

We got up to go to church this morning. During the summer our church has just one service on Sundays at 10 am. It was nice to sleep in a little this morning. They will also start having services on Thursday evenings for those who are gone on the weekends. On our way home from church we stopped at the grocery store to pick up the things I needed to make a couple of dishes to take to a birthday party this afternoon.

Not long after we got home, our good friends, Kim and Juanita Hocking's, daughter stopped by to see Gage and Emma. She was home from college for the weekend and had a surprise for both Gage and Emma. It was wonderful timing on Elise's part, as Emma had just flipped out of the swing in the backyard and landed in the mud she created under the swing with a water balloon. Needless to say, Elise provided a great distraction! Thanks Elise! Anyway, Elise learned how to crochet at college this past year and has been crocheting up a storm! She made Gage and Emma blankets and they are SO NICE! She is doing WAY BETTER than I did when I first started out. My first afghan was probably 7 feet long and the edges were so crooked it wasn't even funny! My sister, Kysa, traded me for an afghan she had made. (I made out like a bandit in that trade!)

Here are Gage and Emma cuddled up in their new blankets that Elise made for them. They are soooooo soft and cuddly and they were anxious to take them to bed with them tonight! I guess it's good the weather cooled off a bit, otherwise they would have been quite hot this time of year in those warm blankets!

Gage and Emma started to get a bit silly. Gage always seems to like giving people bunny ears when I'm taking pictures. I guess he's getting to that age where he's going to start acting like those obnoxious boys that drive me nuts!? I sure hope not! That seems to happen around 9, and he's nearing 8, so I'm sure it won't be long.

Gage was invited to a birthday party this afternoon at Carson and Garret's house. They are twin boys that were in Gage's Jr. Kindergarten class at the YMCA, and Garret was in Gage's Kindergarten class last year. They have remained friends even though they weren't in class together this year. Sherry invited me to help at the party and be the official photographer. That was fun. I enjoyed taking her pictures because I didn't have to worry about taking too many of them! I just snapped away. There will be a few that will make Sherry wonder. :-) They rented an inflatable jumping house for 5 hours this afternoon and after the party, Emma and Scott were invited to come over to jump and then we had a potluck-style supper. A few other friends joined the group and Sherry provided the beef burgers (loose meats where I come from) and I brought the infamous Chicken Jalapeno dip that my sister Kysa made at Christmas. Everyone LOVES that dip! Then, I also made a fruit salad. When Kara and I scrapbooked a few weekends ago, the CM consultant had made a grape salad that was sooooo good! Everyone loved it too! In fact, both of my dishes were empty when I brought them home! Kara has the recipe on her blog. Instead of copying it again, just click on the link if you'd like the recipe. It was soooo delicious!

Garret and Carson celebrated their 8th birthday today. Sherry made the cutest popcorn cake. It looks just like a bag of popcorn you would get at the movie theater, with real popcorn stuck in the frosting. The red lines are licorice. Very cute AND very tasty. The kids had a great time at the party and are exhausted. Emma is so exhausted she's having troubles falling asleep. I hear her singing (quite loudly) in her room right now!

We were supposed to have our first volleyball game in the church league we play in tonight, but it was cancelled due to rain. The weather was great all day and it was PERFECT weather for the party this afternoon. The rain started coming down just after everyone had had enough of the jumping house, so it was good timing. It was a nice, much-needed rainfall to end the day.