Anna Turns Four !

Thanks to a sweet and fun group of friends (and their parents), Anna's 4th birthday party was a smashing and colorful success.  A great gang of buddies from Annie's church, school, and ballet class met at Double Dave's PizzaWorks for a Harry The Potter party.  The kids enjoyed picking out and painting their ceramic figures, ranging from dragons to cats to turtles.  We noticed a budding group of artists among Annie's friends, perhaps a trait that has drawn them all together.  Daddy made sure the party princess' chair was appropriately decked out with the grandest of castle balloons.  But Annie was the undisputed showstopper, with her pink princess tiara, wand, fairy wings and beaded skirt.  Showtunes from various Disney princess movies roused Annie and Anna Thomas to join in a lovely dance across the floor.  Everyone then enjoyed pizza, followed by scrumptious princess ice cream cake.  Click here for the slide show

Anna loved all her gifts, but was obviously more thrileed just to have so many good friends around to celebrate her special day.  We'd like to take this opportunity to thank Bella, Parker, Anna, Alissa, Josh, Isabella, Gabriela, Sara, William, and Laura for their thoughtful and much appreciated contribution toward making this a birthday to remember.

This past weekend goes down as one of the merriest we've seen in a long time.  The holiday fun flowed like a Christmas garland from beginning to end. 

Naked Gingerbead Men
On Saturday, John, Annie, Violet, Dad and I went to the Family Center at Epiphany to meet members of the Ladies Club who had volunteered to bake gingerbread men for the Children's Christmas Breakfast.  Any meeting with these women is bound to be fun.  They're genuinely caring people, who know how to have a good time--and how to turn out a serious batch of baked goods.