Happy Birthday Joni-Girl

It has been 2 years since we had an emergency C-section to get our sweet girl out after 9 hours of induced labor and never making it past 5 cm.  During the surgery they found a tumor attached to my ovary which they removed....her birth was a blessing the minute she was born.  We named her Jonell Elizabeth (our moms' middle names) and the first medical person to help us in recovery was also named Jonell.....which we thought was awesome since it isn't that common of a name.  She is funny, smart, loving, helpful, caring, and so so so sweet.  We thank God for her everyday.  Happy Birthday sweet girl.  Our parents sent rather large packages and the girls have been enjoying the gifts ever since.  

 They both got bubble guns....HUGE HIT!  They made a bubble mountain that grew

 and grew....

 and grew....

 and then they had to play in it of course.

 Her birthday fell on Mother's Day this year.  It was a wonderful Mother's Day present.

 We got this little baby for her and after she opened it and was holding it I realized that it looks EXACTLY like her.....my blonde haired blue eyed girl.

 We had China Buffet for lunch and so Jo had a mix of delicious desserts. That night, though, we opened some cotton candy (another grandparent gift) and stuck a candle in it to sing Happy Birthday.

 So these next pictures are super special.  My dear friend Kelly Logan (her parents and my parents were friends in England over 30 years ago) wanted to take the girls to this little tea parlor to celebrate.  It was so fun!  Her mom Deb joined us and it was a perfect afternoon!

 It was all girlie and my girlies LOVED it!  Seriously, they loved it.  

 They drank lemonade out of tea cups....

 and ate little tea sandwiches and scones and mini cupcakes....

 it was wonderful.

 Thank you Kelly and Deb!  We so so so enjoyed every minute of it!

And then it was party time.  Last night we threw a Derby Party for Jo!  She loves horses so we thought, why not go all out and make it Derby/Kentucky style since we don't know if we will be here much longer.  The Derby is called the "Run for the Roses" so I made rose cupcakes.

These are our feeble attempt a the the "Twin Spires"....a very recognizable feature of Churchill Downs.

Hadley and I made paper hobby horses for everyone.....

 and they all received hats when they arrived.  The boys got jockey hats and the girls got Derby bonnets.  Joni liked the jockey hats better.

 Hadley likes blue if you couldn't tell.

 The decorations.....plus Hadley's friend Charlie who likes to dress up as Peter Pan.  Love that kid!

 I also made Derby Pie (pecan pie with chocolate chips).

 .....the rest of the food.  On the menu we had fried chicken (because we're in Kentucky), benedictine dip (cucumber, onion, and cream cheese which is made into tea sandwiches during Derby), and Hot Browns. These were invented at the Brown hotel downtown and are really native to Louisville.  It consists of a piece of toast, hot sliced turkey, a really good cheese gravy, then tomato, and bacon on the top.  Ummmm, they were good.

 The drink of the Kentucky Derby is the Mint Julip.  We had Lemon Iced-Tea with mint leaves in it.

 My hat for the party that I found for free!

My plate before.....

 and my plate after.  Sorry for all the food pictures....it was just fun making things that we don't make very often, or ever!  :)

  Happy Birthday to Jo!  You can't see it very well but there is a little horse on her cupcake.  She blew those candles out like a champ.....

 and enjoyed herself a cupcake to boot!

Then we played pin the jockey on the horse.... 

 she missed quite a bit.

 and then it was time for the races!  

 And she looks like she is enjoying herself....which made the whole day and all the work so very worth it.

 Then we opened presents and she loves ALL her gifts....we played with every single one today!  

Thank you everyone and Happy Birthday, Joni!!!

Friends and.....Graduation!

A couple quick pictures of the girls with their cute friends....."helping" a church family move....

wearing the same outfits.....

loving on the babies.  Heather and the kids (Nolan and newest addition baby Ainsley) came and spent a day with us and we LOVED it.  The girls loved on the baby and played and played with Nolan.  We so enjoy the time we are able to spend with them!  

The next morning we went to the zoo, of course!  The giant turtles were finally out (only make an appearance 4 months out of the year).....

and the polar bear was swimming and diving and we were where you could see it all.  That NEVER happens!  It was so fun to see.  He had a stick stuck in the rocks and he went down and up 4-5 times before he finally got it out.

Diving down for another try....

I thought it was humorous that they have a rocking chair in front of the window and even more funny that Hadley found it and was rocking away watching the bear.  

Family fun day last week was a gift from someone who had some tickets to the Louisville Bats (minor league) game.  They generously gave them to us and we did enjoy ourselves, rain and all.  

We got to watch funny blow-up guys dance and sing, we shared a snow cone before I broke the bottom of the cup out and poured blue ice-cold juice down my leg, and then to top off the evening.....

WE CAUGHT A FLY BALL!  And by caught I mean it bounced behind my chair and I reached back and grabbed it.  Hadley was super excited (as was I, I'm not going to lie) and we decided we MUST go to another game again soon.

In 1988 Andy started Kindergarten, in 2001 he started college, in 2006 he started Seminary and in 2012 he is FINALLY done going to school....that's 24 years people!  We are super super proud of him working so hard and doing so well AND working at the same time to support us.  He rocks.  So technically he has 3 classes to finish up this summer but he was allowed participate in the graduation festivities.  On Thursday, the President of the Seminary had reception at his house.  Thank you Deb Logan for the cute dresses!

It was the first time I curled Joni's hair and I must say, she looked darling.

Three years ago when we started Seminary, one of my classes met at the President's house for tea (the teacher was the President's wife).  Dr. Mohler (the President) has a library in his house that rivals the Library of Congress.  Saying that he loves books is an understatement.  He has his own librarian.....he loves books.  Anyways, I was able to see it three years ago and Andy has been "jealous" ever since.  Well, happy graduation to him!!!  Believe it or not, Dr. Mohler claims to have read most, if not all, of these books.

His desk.....it's in there, trust me.

Have I mentioned he loves books?

This is the Southern Seminary logo on the floor of the Sesquicentennial Pavilion or as I like to say, "lobby."

Love you Bib.

Then the following day was graduation.

Dr. Mohler delivered the commencement address.

That is Andy shaking his hand after walking across the stage.  I realize that this could be anybody, but I promise it's him.

Our sweet girls waiting for Dad to come find them.

Our dear friends the Downs' came to watch with us and they were excited to see Andy too.

Yay....its over!  In my defense, it was really long and really really hot.  I know I have nothing to complain about since I wasn't wearing a black robe over a long sleeved shirt and tie with a black hat on my head, but it was hot.

So like I said, since he has 3 classes left to finish, there was nothing but a piece of paper with a phone number and a statement about how he has 3 classes to finish before he gets his degree.

And for all his hard work these last 3 years, the Seminary gave him.......A FREE (SMALL) SLUSHIE!  Woo-hoo, way to go babe!

This picture really doesn't need a comment.  HAPPY GRADUATION DAD!  WE LOVE YOU!