One last party before we hit the road

We had always planned this stop-over to Oklahoma and Kansas this spring--we just didn't plan for the stop to be quite as long or start quite as early because of a fire. But we were always planning to be here for a very important birthday--our granddaughter Carter's 4th birthday. She was wearing her party hat like a unicorn, as she watched Mom light her 4th birthday candle.

She wasn't so sure about that candle when it flared into a sparkler candle celebrating that 4th birthday.

This party was hosted at the lake house, with all the grandparents and aunt and uncles in attendance. We love celebrating with this group!

This little girl loves horses, so that's how the birthday cake and cookies were decorated. As you can see, everyone wore their party hats traditionally, except for Carter . . .

and her Grand-dude. Now we know where she inherited her party-hat style. 

We know that Carter loves horses, but we thought that perhaps it was time for something else for her birthday. Gram had asked her, "How about a baby doll that you can change her clothes?" Carter thought for a moment and replied, "How about a horse that I can change clothes?" So we bought a herd of horses, and then Gram began sewing horse clothes. 

Gram's fabric resources were a bit limited. But with the help of our friend Connie and our sister Connie's fabric scraps, Gram managed to make 21 different horse outfits that varied from denim to fur to velvet and lace.

We would say that the experiment was successful, as Carter immediately started dressing her horses and lining them up.

This warm weekend also allowed some time for a boat ride on the lake, and then bubble time. The adults and the children had a good time!

Besides a fourth birthday, we also celebrated Mother's Day that weekend. Denisa was blessed to get to spend the weekend with her favorite men.

Those men took over cooking duties for the day, so Denisa snapped a picture of three handsome men preparing oven roasted sweet potatoes, asparagus, and steaks.

We'll be driving the motor home off into the sunset very soon, but this weekend we were happy to drive around in the golf cart--one of Eli's favorite things. It was fun having one last 4th birthday party and Mother's Day before we hit the road!