Party weekend (not what it sounds like!)

Another weekend of making good memories!

On Saturday when Dick got off work at noon, he quickly showered and dressed, we loaded our stuff into Dick's truck, and headed to Target to pick up the glider rocker I had bought as a gift from the Stauffers that morning, but could not fit into my car. We headed directly to Jenn's baby shower at her parents' house near Harrisburg.  The weather on Saturday was not what had been ordered for the events we were going to be attending, but we needed the rain and MORE RAIN we got that day.  It just made for very miserable driving, extremely humid conditions, and noisy, crowded indoor parties that were meant to be outdoors.

What a wonderful time we had at Jenn's baby shower!  Her family is AWESOME!!  

The parents-to-be, Jenn and Sam.

They had carried out all their living room furniture (including heavy recliner sofa!) and stacked it in their sun room in order to pack as many people in as possible!

This little guy, Jenn's nephew, stole the show the entire afternoon.  He was so cute and smiley and sociable, you just couldn't stop watching him!

Gift-opening time.

They are decorating their nursery in a jungle theme, especially giraffes (Jenn's favorite) and turtles (Sam's favorite).  Jenn's mother crocheted two baby blankets, one with giraffes and one with turtles!  She also made jungle-themed curtains for the nursery.

A friend of the family painted this picture for the nursery!  How cute is that??

We never did bring our unwrapped gift into the house.  Afterward Sam helped Dick to transfer it from our truck to their SUV.  

The parents-to-be with the grandparents-to-be.  

From there we headed to Lancaster County and went first of all to Manheim Township High School where Frank's Lancaster Lightning football team would be playing a home game that evening.  He had brought Destiny there to meet us.  We found her suiting up for the game, haha!

It would have been so much fun to be able to stay and watch Frank play.

But there was another very important party to attend - celebrating Grandpa Stauffer's 86th birthday!  We were so happy to be able to celebrate this birthday with him in his house, thanking the Lord for hearing and answering our cries this past spring.

Thankfully with the weather we had there was plenty of room to be in the basement.  But it was hot and humid and loud - and fun.

Laura's little Payten just gets cuter and cuter.  Here she is with cousin Lindsey (who is also pretty cute, wouldn't you say?)

The girls continued the grand tradition of "dress-up" that the generation before has fond memories of in that basement.   

After the party we went to Grandma Mary's to spend the night. 

On Sunday morning we finally had the opportunity to attend the worship service at Grace, our home church, and to see and talk with many of our church family.   It was wonderful to see even more "kids" on the worship team - ones we've watched growing up in our midst and are now teens.  Thank you, Herb (new worship leader) for continuing my dream.  

After church we ate at a local restaurant with Grandma Mary and my sister Mary Ellen, but I guess I was too busy eating to remember to snap a picture.  

We went back to Grandma Mary's to catch our Sunday afternoon naps, then packed up and went to Sam and Jenn's house near Ephrata.  We hadn't been there since the day they moved in back in March.  It was fun to see the home they have made.  

Dick and Sam put the rocking chair together, then Sam called downstairs to Jennifer asking if she wanted to try it.   What a beautiful mother-to-be.   They are so eager for their little boy to arrive around the beginning of October. 

They ordered in stromboli, which was so scrumptious, and we left their place around 7 PM to head back home to State College. 

My heart is full of warm fuzzies this morning.