The Griffith Zoo: It Takes a Village to Throw a Party

Wednesday was Julia's birthday and we spent the day enjoying simple pleasures with family. It was a great day and she really had fun. However, in her mind, her true celebration was yesterday. She has been planning her birthday party for weeks. She wanted to have a sleepover with her girlfriends. Not just any sleepover -- a camping sleepover in the tent, with a campfire, smore's, the whole works.

I love making birthdays special so I spent time thinking through the details. The "whole works" was going to take a lot of just that. Work! With Marc declining as quickly as he has been I was just praying we would be able to pull off the Wednesday birthday. Friday remained tentative until the last couple of days. Well, prayers were answered. Marc was stable enough for me to be distracted with the party, the weather was dry, and all the guests could attend.

So, with the major hurdles overcome, it came down to the work. There was no way I could have pulled off this party for Julia without the help of a lot of family and friends. As it worked out, it was perfect! Julia had so much fun and will always have great memories of her 8th birthday.

My deepest thanks go out to:

Melanie for doing all the food and craft shopping, helping during the party, and cleaning up my kitchen!
My folks for taking Sophia for the night and to Jess for taking the boys.
A HUGE thank you to my brother-in-law, Tim, for spending the night inside with Marc so that I could have the pleasure of freezing to death in the tent outside with six little girls on sugar overload.
Cara, for being my partner in crime and freezing with me, hanging out with the kids all night, helping me clean up this morning, and being an overall amazing good sport.
Kasie, for helping the kids with the games, organizing the craft, and helping clean up. She, too, was an amazing good sport.
John for bringing out more sugar....Joe's donuts. Mmmmm!
John and Dave for visiting with Marc and keeping him company. It means a lot to him.
Karen, Erika, and Jennifer, for providing extra hands during the evening.
And of course, the kids: Allison, Benjamin, Julia B., Noelle, Sarah, Savannah, and Wilson, for the gifts, giggles, and memories made on a very special 8th birthday. Thank you!