A Splendid Weekend Indeed

A Splendid Friend Indeed is the name of a book I used to read to my kiddos.  It was a cute book and now sometimes when I'm thinking of a good friend that line runs through my head.  So, while I definitely had a splendid weekend indeed, I indeed also have some splendid friends to brag about.  Friday night we went to the Peoria Riverfront for my birthday and ate at Joe's Crabshack.  I rarely go down to the river so it was something fun for a change.  After supper we saw carriage rides and somebody suggested doing it.  So we did.  Making fun of the fact that we were taking a carriage ride through downtown Peoria, but it was a good time anyway.

Mclane, Jason and Dave

Lydia, me, Crystal, Katrina, LeaAnn, Emily and Leah

Seriously love this girl.  When I met her a few years ago I never knew how well I would get to know her and how much I would absolutely love her.  She's so Awesome!!

Group shot at the Ice Cream Shack

Those friends have blessed my life more than I ever knew they would.  I've probably talked about them all before but hey, why not again?  I knew a few before I moved to Athens but most of them I met while I was there.  While I was living there, MOST of my friends got married and moved on.  But as they did, God brought this group into my life which made my transition back to central IL that much easier.  They frequented Alabama due to a few family connections and thanks to those family connections I had a great group to come home to. 

Saturday was my birthday supper with my family.  I just like this picture because it took mom forever to find a camera that worked and everyone was singing while she was looking around.  So when she snapped this one, they were finally singing the last "you" of the song after dragging it out for about three whole minutes.  That's a long time for  the "Happy Birthday" song to last.  It was just funny when they finally got the last word out.

Sunday night cookout at LeaAnn's new cute farmhouse.  Same splendid friends, some splendid games, conversations and a VERY splendid grain bin singing.

Serious girls, serious.

Okay now smile!

Monday night supper with most of the family at Grandpa and Grandma Hodel's.  "Smile kids!!"  No reaction...  But they're still pretty cute.

Sweet little Bugs.  LOVE her!!!

So there you have it.  A Splendid Weekend Indeed.