friends and birthdays and Halloween {o my!}

Last week worlds collided. Our best friends from Uganda came to visit us from New Jersey! The Hallahans {you can read about our times in Uganda here and here or you can check out Kelly's blog here} were doing a road trip across America and stopped in to visit with us for a few days. It was awesome and such a gift. 

Kelly and I. I was super pumped to be able to see her and her baby bump {a girl!}.

Happy {loud} times with these boys reunited. 

It was great to catch up and chat with friends who understand what life is like in North America but also what life is like in Uganda. That is a precious gift to me that I honestly didn't think would happen. So glad they came!

Their visit was perfectly timed with Noah's birthday {and party} so after school on Noah's birthday we had his party which included a couple friends from school, the Hallahan boys, a friend from church and Jude. Of course. 

Noah wanted to have a Star Wars Angry Birds party and I {of course} waited until pretty much the last minute until calling in a {HUGE} favour from my Mom to bust out the cake skills and make one for Noah. 

Right? I mean, mind = blown. 

So that was awesome. And we played Star Wars Angry Birds bingo and one of Noah's friends kept winning but he had THE BEST declaration of bingo I think I've ever heard which made me laugh every time so it was all good.

And then yesterday was Halloween! 

We totally rocked the group theme costume.

These crazy kids. Such troopers and highly motivated by candy. Seriously. They walked around the neighbourhood with no complaints in the wind and rain and cold. For candy. Reminds me of this:

"EVERYONE WE KNOW IS JUST GIVING OUT CANDY!?!?" Love it.

Noah was Clone Commander Rex {from Star Wars The Clone Wars}, Jude was Darth Vader and Blaise was an Ewok. Cute, eh? {I'm biased, I know.}

And then my family came over for dinner to celebrate my sister's graduation ceremony from University. It was such a happy night and I love my house being full of noise and love and laughter. Exactly what I had pictured in our living room {which is coming along! Hardwood laminate floors and white walls. No art or baseboards but it's getting there.}. Good food. Lots of laughter and love. Can't go wrong there.

Happy Weekend to you! I am trying to keep up with my blogging. Eventually I'll figure out a way to stay up to date here while also staying present in the real world. Thanks for hanging in there with me!