Girl's Day ---- A Fun Time Spent Together!

One day (sometimes weekend) of every year we (the female portion) of the Hale group try to get together to rest, relax and have some fun. This year we gave the guys a break by spending the entire Saturday. Sorry, guys, we know you wanted to spend more than just one day caring for all of the kids .... but .... :)

Another first this year ... Jenicca was old enough to join in .... YAHOO!! It was so fun to have her with us! Kindra had also planned a trip down to visit this weekend so we invited her to join in. She added to the fun of this "crazy" group.

This year we met at the "Old Family Home" where we had planned several crafts and cooking ideas. We each brought our fabric and other materials to make those things that interested us or we were to bring a project that we had been working on. It was fun and we managed to get a lot done!

April taught us about Artisan bread.

Amanda, Christina and Jenicca , literally, tried their hand(s) at forming the "boule" before baking the delicious bread.

"Phew! Finally formed and ready for the oven! The bread made really tasty sandwiches for lunch. (Thanks, Nicci and April!)

Really close cousins!

Nicci taught us how to make "One Hour Aprons" and "Buttercup Bags". They turned out so cute! Some of us even made more than one! I'm not real sure the aprons should have been called "one hour", though. At least in my case, it took much longer to finish!

Gretchen getting a few tips on making her apron.

Jenicca puts together a cute handbag as Amanda models a shower curtain "toga"!

Nearly finished!

"Thanks Nicci for your time and patience in teaching us!"
And she even managed to make a bag of her own! Great job!


Some things are just better done on your knees!

Kristen begins to make space to begin making Chocolate Covered Easter Eggs. I wanted to get some pictures but my photography skills failed me. But they turned out just like the ones you can buy, even though at one point it was brought up that the marshmallow part reminded us of "breast implants"! Now ... which Hale girl would bring that up? The end result was "yummy". (Sure wish "somebody" took some good pictures!)

Christina helped us make greeting cards and girl's hairclips. She had put a lot of hours making "card kits" for each of us to make our own. Thanks, Christina! I could have never made my own if I had to come up with the creative ideas! They turned out great!

Several of us made magnetic boards, an idea that Niccole picked up from the Dunford Retreat. Just another cute and fun idea!

After a full day of "crafting", we went out for dinner. We started with the idea of going to La Nonne's Italian Restaurant but because of long lines on a Saturday night we made our way to Iron Gate Grill for a leisurely meal and visiting.

"Smile girls!"

Will, the only "Male Hale" that was lucky enough to get an invitation to join the "Girls' Day" dinner! One lucky "Little Dude" and 9 women .... and so cute, too!

Acknowledgments:

All in all, it was a fun and really "productive" day! Thanks to ALL of "my" girls for setting aside the day to come and bring your ideas to share with us.

And thanks to all of the men for taking the kids so "willingly" or "not so willingly" ~~~ it helps to have at least a day or two a year to take some time for ourselves! Just keep in mind .... "When Momma's happy, everybody's happy"! A day away from the "job" enlightens our spirits!! (Oh, and a "special thanks" from me to Matt ..... Thanks for babysitting Grandad! He definitely wouldn't have enjoyed the day at home with all of us women and no TV, ballgames, golf or NEWS! Also, thanks to Phil for spending the day with an extra five!) We appreciate all of you guys for giving us the time together!

We are looking forward to next year!!