The Birthday Girls

Note: Cuteness alert. The following is apt to be maddeningly sweet. If you have the potential for cavities or diabetes, best not to read any further.

By the grace of God, and to our endless delight, two of our granddaughters' birthdays dominate the summer months. It practically guarantees at least one summer family celebratory gathering.

MacKenna Jane turned six years old on July 5th. Abby will mark her first year of life on August 2nd.

Umm . . . just a wee little problem this year. Their parents have just bought a new home and will be moving in just three weeks.

What's a young, professional working mother to do?

Have a joint Birthday party, of course!

Ms. Abba-Dabba seems a bit flummoxed by her birthday cake, but her Aunt Bobbi helps her figure it out, while her sister's friend Lily lends support.

Ms. Mackie, on the other hand, is an old pro by now to all things celebratory concerning one's nativity. Her birthday theme was The Little Mermaid - who graced the door, the birthday pinata and the cake.

Not to worry. Abby quickly figured out the proper way to eat her birthday cake. As she discovered, you just focus all your attention on the task at hand, stick your fingers into the middle of it and have at it.

Go Abby!
MacKenna was joined by her friends Noah and Sarah in opening her birthday "Little Mermaid" pinata. Their new puppy, Dakota (a Burmese Mountain Dog, just now 4 months old and 46 pounds, God help us), joined in the fun.


Later, Abby and her Grammy shared a quiet moment with Abby's sippy cup.

Ms. Abby prefers yogurt mixed with juice to just plain old milk, thank you very much.

Here, Ms. MacKenna Jane has a moment in conversation with her favorite tree.

I asked her, later, what she was doing. She said, "This is my last birthday with this tree. I was saying thank you and goodbye. I thought it was only right."

She can be such a very sensitive, serious child.


But, she can also play with the best of them.

Here, she shares some serious play time in the sand box with her best friend, Lily.

Shortly after this picture was taken, Dakota decided to join them in their play.

He dug a hole right through the sandbox.

Daddy promised to build a new one in their new yard.

Yeah for Daddies!

Abby and Nana also got to share some down time. She's such a pistol. So very different in terms of personality and temperament from her sister.

I continue to marvel at the miracle of life and its wonderous, completely unpredicatable diversity.

The weather was absolutely perfect, too. Low heat, no humitidy. God is good!

All in all a wonderful day with our children and grandchildren.

It's days like these that make sense of adolescences - theirs and ours.