Happy 15th Birthday!

 Lily Grace turned 15 yesterday.  We spent the weekend celebrating with friends and had so much fun!

On Saturday, we hosted a house full of teenage girls for a party.  The girls visited the Escape Room and yes, they made it out before the hour was up.  Afterwards, we headed home for a cookout along with hours of laughter, games, music and squeals.  Those girls were all over the house.  

On Sunday, Gracie woke to presents from mom and dad as well as family and friends.  We went to mass, made her favorite dinner and enjoyed the day.  According to Gracie, it was the best birthday so far.  

Thank you so much to everyone who called, text and sent cards and packages!  You made her day extra special!

Happy Birthday Lily Grace!  You are such a blessing!  You have the biggest heart and the best big smile to go along with it!  We love you sooooo much!

They escaped with only 7 seconds to spare.  

Thank you to all of her friends for thinking of her.

Her friends insisted on singing Happy Birthday to her.  It was so cute and funny.  I guess at 15 Gracie thought she might escape that. 

In the seven hours these girls were together, there was never a dull (or quiet) moment. 

They took lots of pics in front of the backdrop Gracie requested.

Such a wonderful group of girls!  

Happy Little Trees

 This week we've been enjoying Spring Break.  Lily and I had hoped to make a trip down south to visit family, but with my grandmother still not allowed to leave her home, we decided it was best to wait until she could join us all.  

Instead, we enjoyed doing things around town and took a little mini trip to Muncie, IN.  Gracie has been wanting to visit the Bob Ross experience there. We made the trip yesterday and had so much fun!

Muncie is a small little town and home to Ball State and Ball Family.   Yep, the mason jar family.  It's was also home to Joy of Painting for several years of the show.  

Lily Grace loves art and apparently, Bob Still holds a lot of weight among high school art students.  We learned a great deal about him and his art.  We even got to see several of his original paintings and many of the works he created on the show. 

The grounds and entrance to the Minnetrista Museum was beautiful.

The gardens behind the Ball family estate were absolutely beautiful. 

Somebody was soooo excited to see the original Bob Ross paintings housed inside the Ball estate.

The studio where Joy of  Painting was filmed still stands as it did when the show ended.