THE longest post ever?

I'll leave that all up to you once you've finished reading and looking through this entire post! So much happened last week!

I've not been good at updating my blog, lately, and so I guess I'm making up for it now.

Last week, I celebrated my 21st birthday. Normally, I don't celebrate my special day more than once a year, however this time around, I celebrated it not only once...but three times!

#1: On Monday, we planned on celebrating my birthday by going out to a surprise restaurant for dinner and then coming back home and opening up gifts. However, since some of the kids weren't quite feeling up to par because of sickness we decided to post-pone the dinner and just open gifts. So, Dad grilled some chicken and Griff & Bek came over, still, and joined us for dinner. Once we were finished, we moved into the living room where I opened up my gifts and then enjoyed cake & ice cream. Bek also cut my hair some and layered it for me. It needed a trimming!

#2: On Tuesday morning, Mom and the kids came into my room singing "Happy Birthday" with a tray in tote and served me breakfast in bed. They fixed me a nice breakfast of French Toast and gave me a new Martha Stewart magazine along with a vase filled with daisies, daffodils, a carnation, and a hyacinth.

#3. On Wednesday night, my family planned quite a surprise party! Around our house, (and many others!), Wednesday evening is SOCCER. We went as usual, but as I said above, the kids had been battling some sickness and weren't feeling well enough to play. Only two of us ended up playing from our family, but Ab still came along to watch on the sidelines. During one point in the game, I talked to Abby and she acted like she didn't feel good. It was asked if she needed to be taken home, but she refused. Once our game was finished and we chit-chatted a short while afterwards, we said our goodbyes and I told people that we wouldn't be going out to fast food (which is what we normally do after soccer) since Ab was sick. Mom had told me earlier that Thatcher might want something to drink other than water and that I should stop by the gas station and get something for him after soccer. (Yes, that part was true...) So, we drove to the gas station with my "sick" sister reclining back in the passenger seat, picked up some pop and made our way home. As we drove down our street, the soccer group was there filing into our house for my surprise birthday party. Ab confessed that she felt wonderful! Mom fixed Sloppy Joes and my annual birthday cake, Gertrude Armstrong, for everyone to enjoy. I had no idea that she was doing all of this! Thank you so much, SOCCER GROUP and FAMILY, for choosing to be so sweet and thoughtful to me on my birthday! (The birthday song really didn't sound all that bad, either!) *Note: If you want to view pictures of that evening, just go to Ab's Spot, http://www.soccergirlab.blogspot.com/ So, I guess you could say that I REALLY celebrated my 21st birthday to the fullest! Even though I celebrated my birthday three times that week, the partying wasn't finished, yet.

A long-time friend of mine is getting married in May and I'm going to be one of the bridesmaids in the wedding. So, I had a "Bride-to-Be" Dinner Party for her and the young ladies from our church on Friday evening. The decorations centered around a very summer-time theme. Since neither my mom and I grill, Griff was a sweet enough guy and grilled shishkabobs for our party. The night was filled with talking, laughter, and pictures. Special thanks goes to Griff, our chef, and Mom, Bek, and Abby for helping to make the night a success! Wow, that's probably the longest post I have ever written! Now...it's time for PICTURES!!! I'll post them from the beginning of the week on. Enjoy!!

21 candles

"Griff the Griller" along with one in training.
The Party
Back row: Beth, Bek and Megan
Second row: Kristin, Jessica and Liz
Last row: Courtney, Allison, Stephanie, Christie
Kristi, Mary-Kate, Rebecca, Nicole and Lacey