That same day, after we left the lake, we stopped in Vinton at a park to celebrate a birthday! A friend of ours, Tyler, was turning 30, and his wife Jenny put on a big party for him. I used to teach with Jenny, and she definitely threw the party teacher-style: organized, well-thought-out, creative, and fun! It was a "Wanted" cowboy theme...he was completely surprised by a kidnapping and everything. Unfortunately, we missed the surprise (we, ahem, ran out of gas when leaving the lake and had a long delay...thankfully someone stopped to help us and gave Aaron a ride to the gas station; otherwise we would have been out there the rest of the evening. It was completely my fault and it will certainly never happen again), but we heard the story of it all when we got there.

Jenny gave us all cowboy tattoos. V was entranced with this, too.

The happy couple :)

Last Thursday (yes, at the last minute), I had a chance to take Vivian by herself to pick out a birthday present for her sister. It was exciting for her to have such a big job! I helped a little bit, but Vivian chose a baby doll and some new cars. Kate is in love with taking care of her new baby doll.
We didn't have a chance for V to give her the present until Saturday morning...Friday was just too busy!

Yesterday Julia and Mason came over to play! Erin was doing some of her creative and perfect painting for little Nathaniel's nursery (Chris and Lauren's boy due in September!) and we enjoyed some cuddle time with her kiddos :)

Kate doesn't necessarily have the same love for looking through books that Vivian does, but she's been having more extended book times lately. It's sweet when they are looking at a book together and Vivian "teaches" Kate.

Sorry for the technical problems with the Picasa albums...I think I fixed it (thanks for the tip, Kristin...you were right)! Enjoy!

These are the pictures from Kate's party last Friday! We had the party on her actual birthday and I really liked doing it that way...it ended up being more of a busy playdate than a huge Saturday deal. Kate enjoyed herself and we think everyone else did, too! She has always been fond of bugs and the ladybugs that infest our house in the winter, so we thought we could turn it into a cute party theme :) Check out the pictures for more details!! The first album includes pictures from my camera, and the second has all of the pictures that another friend, Kristin, took. I couldn't figure out how to mesh the two albums, but neither of them have too many pictures, so you don't mind, right?!? Some pictures are duplicated, but some are only in one or the other album (for example, pics of the cupcakes are only in the second album), so that's why you need to look at both :)

After breakfast on Kate's birthday morning, the girls had to get out some of their birthday party jitters and excitement. She is happy to be 2!!

Yesterday after the party, Uncle Joey stopped by to give Kate a special birthday gift. She has been playing with it ever since...loves to go shopping!

Yesterday when I was making the PB&J lunches for Kate's party, I got a glimpse into what Michelle Duggar's kitchen counters may look like when she's getting a meal ready. Crazy!