As you guys know, I wasn't able to post for a while, so now I'm going to post about the joint birthday party my friends Dani, Saoirse and I had. My birthday was the 23rd of July, Saoirse's was the 21st, and Dani's was the 30th, so we celebrated all the birthdays at one huge celebration. The party was held at Dani's house and I had a blast!

I greeted Dani with a HUGE smile and a wave. "Hey Dani! I'm so glad you invited me!" I half shrieked, half giggled. She smiled and chuckled herself. "Hi Jess! I'm so glad you could make it!" She replied.

Dani's dogs came racing up to greet me. They lapped at my legs and barked with excitement as I pet them. I've always really loved dogs, but have never been able to get one, what with my parents job that requires them to travel a lot, so it was nice to be able to interact with Dani's dogs.

Just then, Saoirse walked in, wearing the cutest green and brown polka dot dress that she had gotten for her birthday. "Hi!" Dani and I both exclaimed in unison. "HEY GUYS!" Saoirse replied, her face full of excitement. "I love your dress!" I told her. She blushed and said "It was a gift! I'm so glad you like it!"

Of course, Dani invite Saoirse's friends Kaya and Josefina as well! They were so nice, and I really loved Josefina's orange and red dress. When I complimented her on it, she said it was handmade! I couldn't believe something so beautiful could be handmade!

A few minutes later, we all heard a door open. It was Charlotte and Zoe! Now the party could finally begin!

We begged and begged Skye, Dani's mom's friend, to open presents and she finally gave in! This is Dani about to open my present to her!

The object next to Dani is a soccer goal. We both really love soccer, and I thought that my original practice goal would be a perfect present because it took me so far in my soccer career! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did Dani!

Next, Dani opened presents from Charlotte and Zoe. They got her a cute MP3 player with headphones, a binder covered in soccer pictures, and an adorable stuffed tiger!

Then, Dani opened her presents from Saoirse, Josefina, and Kaya! (Kaya couldn't be in the picture because Emily was fixing her messy hair!) They got her Pikachu, Pokeball, and tiger beadlings! Plus a dragon SillyBand!

Saoirse opened her presents next! First up, she opened a box from Dani. I wonder what it could be...

It was an adorable red panda hat! Saoirse's favorite animal is a red panda!

After that, Saoirse opened up her presents from me! I made her a pink and green belt/headband because pink and green are her favorite colors! Also, I gave her two bookmarks with irish sayings on them. She is from Ireland, so I thought I would give her a little reminder of home. (Plus, they're pink and green as well)

FINALLY! It was my turn! I'm about to open Dani's present to me and I've got excited butterflies in my stomach! Am I the only one who gets those...?

IT WAS A BLUE MONKEY HAT! Blue is my favorite color and monkies are my favorite animal! Thank you so much Dani!

Then I opened my present from Saoirse, Josefina and Kaya!

They gave me blue monkey and banana beadlings, a toucan SillyBand and an adorable turtle keychain. Plus, I got to keep the bag they came in! Thank you Saoirse, Josefina and Kaya!

So that Charlotte and Zoe didn't feel left out, Skye made them each a headband/belt, even though it wasn't either of their birthdays. Everyone is so nice!

After that, we decided to do a big group photo. From the top, left to right: Lilly, Saoirse, Stephanie, Kaely, Charlotte, Zoe, Me (Jess), Nicki, Dani, Emily, Molly, Kaya, Laughing Spirit, and Josefina.

When we were done taking pictures, we went inside to play and make stuff with the beads we got. Some of them were very special paper beads, made by women in Uganda. The women who make the beads do it as a job to support their families. Some of the women had jobs before where they crushed rocks by hand, all day in the hot sun, and would make less than a dollar a day. Now, they are able to roll beads at home or with friends, and they are earning 5-7 times more than what they were before. It also gives them more freedom, because they go to the market and decide which paper would make the best beads and they get to be creative. To find out more, you can watch this video.

 Once that was done we went inside for cake! It was lemon cake with lemon frosting, sprinkled with colorful chocolate covered sunflower seeds. It was delicious! At the top is a picture of Saoirse eating her cupcake, in the middle is a photo of Charlotte eating her cupcake, and finally, at the bottom, there is a picture of me eating my cupcake! (I'm wearing bracelets I made during the beadwork part of the night, and I even have frosting on my face. Hey, I don't mess around when I eat good food ;)

Not long after that we all headed out to the tent, where sleep came easily in the fresh, woodsy air. In the morning we ate raspberry, blueberry and chocolate waffles for breakfast. We chatted and then unfortunately it was time to go.

I had so much fun at the party and I'm so glad to have made such great friends!