Friday April 3, 2009

 

 

Sunday, March 29

 Birthday Party

And a leftover half-birthday gift

 

After church we met Roy and Deb at Two Cousins.  This was a gift to Diana who was celebrating her half-birthday.  She wanted to spend time with Roy and Deb.

 

 

After getting home, Roy, Diana, and Cerwin set up the garage for the evening birthday party.

 

 

Diana liked unrolling the carpet like this.

 

 

 This is a photo from earlier in the week when Jenna and Jana went shopping for their party decorations.  They didn’t want me to put this on my blog before the day of the party.

 

 

Setting the tables for their party.

 

 

 

 

They got the special table.

 

 

When the garage was ready, we played the Bible version of Apples to Apples.  (This was part of Diana’s half-birthday gift.)  The grandchildren try to come up with creative things they can do to celebrate half-birthdays.

 

  

The birthday party guests were supposed to arrive shortly after 5 p.m., but a serious hail storm delayed it a bit.

 

 

We watched in amazement at the hail moved toward our house from the southwest.  We could hear it hitting the barn roofs in the neighborhood before it got to our place.

 

 

We were blessed that it passed our house without damage.  However, a few miles later a tornado took the roofs off of several barns and houses, and flipped seven or eight mobile homes.

 

 

Photo of Jake by our daughter Deb.

Because Jere and Kristen were leaving for Switzerland the next day, they had an appointment to take Jake to a local kennel.  That appointment was also at 5 p.m. and was delayed a bit due to the storm.

 

 

Photo by Deb

Speaking of Jere (on the right), many people are amazed at how much Deb’s friend Roy looks like Jere.  Last night at the banquet, Cerwin’s mother even thought Roy was Jere, and asked where Kristen was. 

 

 

Finally we are ready to start the party, but Jeff is having a problem with where I am standing as I take this photo of him and Chris.  I am blocking his view of the TV and the last lap of the NASCAR race!

 

 

The birthday girls – Jana and Jenna.

 

 

Cerwin waiting for everyone to get seated before prayer.

 

 

The girls even made name tags for everyone.

 

 

 

 

Flowers from Jere and Kristen.

 

 

The girls decided that they wanted to open their gifts before the cake and ice cream.

 

 

 

 

Jana was pleased with her Bobby Jack bedding.

 

 

 

 

Jesse preferred the box.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Bobby Jack Birthday cake for Jana

 

 

  

 

A pretty ice cream cake for Jenna

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jenna’s brothers Nate and Jordan came after work.  Both help local dairy farmers.

 

 

The evening ended with Kristen and Jere saying goodby to their three youngest – Ian, Jared, and Jesse (in photo) as they were staying here overnight.  Josh and Jana will get on the school bus at their house in the morning, then a short time later Jere and Kristen are leaving for a ten-day trip to Switzerland and Italy. 

The early part of the week will be a business trip for Jere, then they will do some sightseeing and visit an exchange student who spent time in Kristen’s home when she was a teenager.  Toward the end of the trip they are flying to Rome to visit my brother Clair.