Birthday Celebrations! :-)

 I celebrated my 25th birthday this past Thursday,

December 22nd.  We started celebrating early and

went out to eat on Wednesday night after church! :-)

 Abi entertained us all with her stories! ;-)

 I got home right at midnight, so we celebrated

by opening some of my gifts then :-)

Dave was complaining about not getting a kiss,

so Mar & I made sure he got a double dose! ;-)

 Adam & Katie got me a beautiful scarf!

Dave thought it looked like it should be used like this ;-)

 I started out my birthday with breakfast 

in bed compliments of Mary :-)

 Then Mar, Dave, and I headed out to the

mall for Starbucks and then to do some

Christmas shopping! ;-)

 Mar & I had to get a picture since we "matched" :-)

 We then met up with a group of family & friends

for lunch at Cottage Inn! :-)

 Dave, Tiz, Abi, and Rebekah

 Katie's birthday is also the same day as mine!

Except she's just a year younger.. hard to believe I'm

older than her!  Mom brought us a cookie cake.. yummy! :-)

 Blowing out the candles

 So glad that Hannah & Lydia came too! :-)

Just love my "little" cousins!

 Tizzy & Abz

 Gotta love Dave's face here.. he keeps us laughing! :-)

 The boys had a basketball game that night, so all

the family that was in town went.  That was a lot

of people, as you can imagine! :-)

 Tab had fun with my birthday headband :-)

Can you read what it says??

I had an awesome, fun-filled day! :-)

Thank you so much to all who made it

so special by calling me, and sending me texts,

cards, and emails!  It was so fun to spend it

with lots of caring family & friends!

Thank you for making my day so special! :-)

Christmas Cantata

 This past Sunday night our church had our Christmas Cantata.  

It was so much fun to be back and to be involved!

 Jason did a great job narrating!

 The orchestra did a great job as well!

They added so much!

 Cindi practiced and worked hard to accompany us!

 Dr. John Van Gelderen preached the closing message.

 Sisterly love.. and John doesn't look like he's

really appreciating it.. but don't let his look fool you! ;-)

 I love my cousins! :-)

 Preacher & Abi

 Grandma Gardner, Mom, and Anna

So glad that Grandma came for it!

 Dave & Pab

I'm very thankful for my brothers! :-)

 Abi & Phoebe

And so thankful for friends as well! :-)

 Yuta jumped in to help with the picture! ;-)

Moose for Christmas time?? :-)

 A lot of visitors came!  

Georgette, the lady we babysit for, Jillian,

her daughter, and Audrey, a friend, came as well!

 Mary & Suzy

College buddies :-)

 Mrs. Thompson & Abi

Tizzy & Jilly

We both share a birthday on the same day,

so, of course, we had to get a picture together! :-)

Ladies' Christmas Brunch

 This past Saturday we had our annual 

Ladies' Christmas Brunch at the Sheraton Hotel.

We found the most inconvenient places to practice! ;-)

 There were around seventy ladies who attended!

It was a great time of fellowship and fun! :-)

 The food was delicious as well!

 And some people even had meals that 

were specially ordered for them! :-)

 It was so good to have Deborah back in town

for the weekend!  She came with Bill & Mary Rice.

Dr. Bill preached a family seminar in our church on

Sunday and Miss Mary spoke at our brunch.

 Mrs. McKenzie set up a table of her beautiful baskets!

 We had quite a few visitors and ladies 

come from other nearby churches!

 Regina & Cindi

 The "young ladies' table" :-)

 Another "young ladies' table" :-)

 Mary Rice & Mary Lynn Van Gelderen

 Tab went around with the camera and took 

pictures of the various ladies' tables.

Do you think Naomi loves bacon?! ;-)

 Ruth Cammuso & Rachel

 Phoebe, Sarah, and Lydia

 Tab & I sang a duet while Abi & Deborah played.

 Rachel did a wonderful job putting everything together!

Thank you so much for all your hard work, Rachel!

You're amazing, talented, organized, such a servant...

should I go on?! :-)  You're the best! :-)

 There were many prizes given out.

Mom won a gift card to Fran Coy's, a nearby salon & spa.

 Abz was so glad to finally win something!

She's waited a long time for this! :-)

 Mrs. Bohlen, Aunt Lynn, and Shannon

 CJ & Abi

 Abz, Tab, and I did the "Dinner Decisions" skit,

but we adapted it for the ladies' brunch.  It was

a lot of fun to do together and we enjoyed coming

up with fun ideas to make it unique for this occasion! ;-)

 I played the obnoxious waitress, of course!  I've been

told I'm perfect for the part.  I don't really take that

as a compliment, though! ;-) haha 

It's fun to play the part! :-)

 Abi, the love-struck newlywed

 Tab, the frustrated, over-worked mother

 Tiz, the obnoxious, annoying waitress

...pretty much just being myself! ;-p

 Okay, so I guess there was one "little man"

that showed up for the occasion! ;-)

 Rachal, Naomi, and Mary

Of course, even formal occasions 

can't stay formal for too long! ;-)