Continued Catching Up

So after the dinner with Sam and Colleen, we went the following weekend to friends of ours on the southern shore area. We've continued to grow closer to their family over the last 2 years and I'm grateful at times like these that we've moved to the Northeast.

The relationships we never had or never had in depth, that we now have in depth are some of the surprises that have come out of our move. Were it not for changing companies I doubt our friendship with Al's family would have blossomed like it has. We see them more often than many of our family and it's kind of funny like that!

So off to Al and Donna's to celebrate E's birthday which was the following week.

We had a great time there with the kids, with the adults, with the toys and boy can Donna cook! I joked with Donna that if we weren't there that weekend, E's birthday dinner would definitely not have been the (literally) Thanksgiving dinner she cooked! There was more than enough Wii to go around and lots of temper tantrums from adults and kids alike depending on who was losing or winning.

I also had the pleasure of decorating the cake I made with two of their kids and we all got to see their oldest daughter in a school play, a spin on the traditional Jack and the Beanstalk! The cake? An octopus mold that E had picked out last year to use with Magpie. The kids decorated it with candy and I put on the icing, let me just say, if you see a cake with frosting, sweetarts and gummy bears, be prepared for sugar shock.

E got a really nice present from their family, but Al had wrapped it in a box, in a box, in a box, etc etc. screwdrivers were involved at one point. Check out the slideshow below:

I finally started to learn a few signs with their son, teaching me colors, names and a few words like yes and no. I know most of the letters but I'm at a loss most of the time he signs something to me. I figure it's about time we started to learn.

E also helped Al build a computer so it was like an "All Man all the time" weekend!