Birthdays and Babysitting

An epic birthday year deserves an equally epic celebration - at least I thought so!  Bob turned 60 on August 12, 2018, and it seemed the perfect opportunity to gather our friends from The Woodlands and a few from Conroe together at our home.  I enlisted the help of a friend from our former ward in The Woodlands, Jana Gibson, to help me pull it together.  Her advice and decorating expertise as a party planner were very much appreciated. (I can't believe I didn't even take a photo of her through it all.)  We decided to provide a burrito and brownie bar to our guests in an open house style celebration.

My cute young woman ministering sister from church, Madison Merkley, saved the day by managing the kitchen during the party.

 It was so much fun to catch up with many of our friends whom we hadn't seen since we left for Korea in 2011.  I didn't get photos of all, but here is a pretty good sampling:

 

 Chelsea, Knox and Holly came over for the weekend as well.  Everyone loved seeing Chelsea and meeting Knox and Holly!

 Although presents were not expected, Bob received quite a few, and Knox and Holly were happy to help him open them.

 Happy Birthday to my very best friend!  He's the youngest and sweetest 60-year-old I know.

August is a big birthday month for our family.  Bennett's in on the 1st, Chelsea and Eve celebrated birthdays on the 8th, and Emma's is on the 15th.  Happy Birthday to all!

Jill would also be celebrating a birthday September 5th.  It may not have been designed to celebrate her big day, but Bobby and Jill flew me to Utah from August 24 - September 7 to watch their children while they went to Peru to visit her parents who are serving as Mission President(s) for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Trujillo.  They were kind enough to let me spend the first few days with Michael, Kristin, Eve and Brady in Orem.

 We went to the park and took 2-year-old birthday photos of Eve.  Isn't she adorable?!

I had a great time with the Murray grand-kids as well.  Keeping up with their crazy routines kept me on my toes, running to school, gymnastics, soccer and dance, as well as helping with piano practice and homework.  Check out Elly's impromptu interpretive dance moves!

Even so, we managed to have lots of fun making forts, baking cookies, shopping for toys, playing sports in the yard, and swimming. 

We made "cards" to take to my amazing Aunt Linda and Uncle Dell, where the kids had a great time creating a huge fortress out of magnetic tiles and populated with stuffed animals!  We love you, Linda and Dell!

I had a blast teaching Linley to sew, and she took to it immediately.  Her first project was to make a backpack!  She was passionate in her desire to create little creatures to share with her friends at school, and every free moment she was found sewing another project.  Linley is such a creative girl!

You might think the Goodman Family can't sit still . . . and you are right!  Never a dull moment with us!  (But when I'm back home alone, I crash big time!)  Bobby and Jill returned a couple of days before my departure, and I was fortunate to see them in action as well.  Both of them coach their kids' soccer teams and do a fantastic job of it.  We made some cupcakes for Jill and finished out the visit enjoying another sweet birthday treat together.