My Faith and Joy

My Elmo-dified kitchen.

The girls thought the balloons were very exciting.

They loved watching the big kids in the pool – especially when the boys did cannonballs.

It was great to have the pool so people could cool off from the ninety-degree (at least) temperatures.

The pool also offered a convenient gathering place for us non-swimmers to enjoy the view of other people goofing off in the water.

A little background to the above picture where Susie is pointing to her right hand: I had been holding Susie near the pool when I was stung by a wasp.  I yelped and bit my lip, and quickly handed off Susie to my mother-in-law.  A few minutes later, we noticed a welt on Susie’s hand where evidently she had also been stung, but she never made a sound.  She’s a whole lot braver than her mom!    

Becky was very excited that her friends let her eat as many cheese puffs as she wanted.  I think her expression in this picture reflects her fear that I was going to put an end to the puffs consumption (I didn’t – it was her birthday, after all!)

Becky was so enamored with the party scene that she even let multiple people hold her, which was cause for a celebration (and photo documentation) in my book! 

Alli was so glad she could reconnect with Connecticut friends that she only sees once a year.

We were very thankful that so many of our dear friends drove a distance to enjoy the day with us.

Becky is displaying great self-control by refraining from diving into the cupcakes until I got my camera in place and gave the go-ahead.  Maura was nearby as my back-up in case her inner strength wavered.  Susie kept carrying her party hat around upside down and saying “cake cup, cake cup.” 

Susie with a mouthful of Elmo’s nose.

This picture of Landon typifies the joy of summer: swimming, grilling, and sweets.  Life is good! 

Speaking of sweets, here we are enjoying plenty of them (and now I finally know how Becky ended up with frosting on her back). 

It didn’t take much detective work to figure out how she ended up with a chocolate mustache.

Here are two of the world’s best party planners.  Thanks, Maria and Alli, for all your prep work!

Susie thought her new hat went perfectly with her half-naked birthday suit, as did plenty of kisses for her new Madeline. 

Becky was entranced by a singing birthday card.

Susie insisted on feeding a donut to Alli and cookie monster at the same time.

And lastly, here is Becky’s expression of sheer birthday bliss.  And most likely an overabundance of sugar.  All’s well that ends well.