happy birthday kelsey!!

many of you probably remember thalia's dear first friend kelsey. they were in the same class when thalia and i first moved down here. kelsey has since moved to a different school, but amy and i try to get the girls together often. well, a few weeks ago kelsey turned 3, and we got to go to her birthday party. the two munchkins were SO excited to see each other. it was great. in fact, after cake, kelsey kept asking thalia to help her open her gifts! talk about sweet friendship! i don't think my best friend would EVER let me NEAR her gifts ;o) (love you jillian!)
the girls have been sharing silly bands...this is them showing how many they have on their arms while playing with kelsey's new art set.
what a cheeseball i have for a daughter
thalia helping open gifts
ha! i just realized these pics are in reverse order! we were trying to get a pic of the two of them in birthday hats but they weren't cooperating.
thalia eating some Cars birthday cake. kelsey is a girl after my own heart - she couldn't decide between butterflies and Cars, so she had butterfly decorations and a Cars themed cake!
kelsey also wanted thalia to help blow her candle out. adorable!
we had a great time. i am so glad that the girls remember each other and have such fun together. it's really incredible to watch.

while i was typing this post, i noticed i had a draft post in my box. wouldn't you know it - its from our playdate with kelsey and amy at the park over the summer. who knows how it didn't make it to actually be posted, but these are some of my favorite park pictures!

they LOVED this tire swing. they were cackling and squealing. it was great
there are about 15 of these - me trying to get them to stand together for a picture and them blowing me off
this is my favorite. look at her pigtails! this was a really big slide and a tunnel the whole way down. but she climbed up there and went down like she was a big kid. we spent most of our time here.

anyway, we are so blessed by kelsey and amy. more pics to come as they grow older together.

as for a real update - we have been super busy. who knew that being home together could actually make you MORE busy than when you travel! this weekend i'll do a big november update. and who knows...maybe i'll eventually get the pics from october up here!

much love and more sleep (now that thalia's night terrors have stopped!),
c, c, and t