This time it’s a family affair.

Tuesday evening we celebrated Mercedes’ birthday with family. Most of her cousins showed up, which was really nice – they don’t get to play together all that often. Unfortunately Grandpa Al (my dad) wasn’t able to be there because he was unexpectedly asked to work a good distance away on Tuesday and Wednesday. Instead, he came over Monday evening for a while, dropped off Mercedes’ gift, and spent some time with the girls.

One thing that Mercedes really wanted this year was a Lee Middleton Original Doll. Roxanne’s Doll Shoppe, a local business, just announced a couple weeks ago that they’ll be closing on September 1. This is really rather sad news as the shop is apparently something to behold – both Mercedes and Michelle talked about it a great deal when they visited recently – and it contains a 10,000 sq. ft. doll museum on the premises. This also happens to be the one place locally that we can get the doll, and so it’s a rather pressing matter, as well. I’m happy to report that enough of her family was able to contribute towards this goal that we’ll be able to go order and/or pick up the wee one next week.

Great Grandpa Mager, Michelle’s paternal grandfather, celebrates his birthday the very next day so we topped off the gathering by giving him gifts. He doesn’t really need knick knacks, tools, or such, so we gave him gift certificates to his favorite local restaurant. He had an immediate use for them: lunch on his birthday. We’re glad he’ll enjoy them!