Thursday, November 21, 2013

Belated Birthdays

I've been a horrible blogger in 2013! I have totally neglected the birthdays of my children, and so I will now rectify my oversights, beginning with the most recent first:

26 Oct 2013: Sarah after her concert on the night before her birthday
 
SARAH: Oct 27th
 
The night before Sarah's 24th birthday she had a performance with White Mountain Symphony Orchestra. Her brother Jacob decided to surprise her by decorating her car with ballons and birthday wishes, so he sneaked out right after the concert while Dylan, Chris, Chris's parents, and I stalled her inside as long as we could.
 
26 Oct 2013: Sarah gets a surprise after the concert

Sarah was so pleased with Jacob's surprise. I love that my children like to do nice things for each other. I have often been the recipient of their surprises, as well. I am so blessed!

26 Oct 2013: Sarah takes a bow at the end of the concert.
She is just left of the music stand in the center.

For her actual birthday the next day, we had a family dinner with her favorite foods, including Navopache Chicken Salad (with chicken, cabbage, slivered almonds, sunflower seeds, olive oil, red wine vinegar...) Then she opened her presents before we sang happy birthday and enjoyed the German chocolate birthday cake Jacob prepared for her.

27 Oct 2013: Sarah and her birthday cake

1 July 2013: Dylan holds his birthday card from his sister

DYLAN: July 1st

Dylan invited his friend Mary to join us for a small family party on his 16th birthday. First, he enjoyed one of his favorite meals: spaghetti and meatballs with a large side of garlic bread.

1 July 2013: Dylan and his friend Mary as he opens his gifts

After dinner Dylan opened his presents. There weren't many of us there: just Dylan, Mary, Sarah, Chris, and Mom (me) since Jacob was still in California. But we were enthusiastically cheering Dylan on as he checked out his gifts!

1 July 2013: Dylan with his birthday ice cream cake

We then enjoyed the birthday cake Dylan had requested: an Oreo ice cream cake. With more ice cream on the side. Go figure.
 
We concluded the evening with a rousing game of Farkle, which I almost won, until Mary kicked our butts in the final round with a HUGE roll of the dice!

1 July 2013: Chris, Dylan, and Mary enjoy cake and ice cream

JACOB: June 26th

Sorry, I got nothin'. No pictures, no story. Since Jacob was living in California at this time, we didn't get to celebrate his 22nd birthday with him. Again. We've missed his last 3 birthdays, since he was serving his mission in 2011 and 2012. But we sent him his gifts and cards and wished him a happy birthday from afar.

20 Mar 2013: Sarah, Chris, and Chris's niece Keri celebrate his day

CHRIS: March 28th

For my son-in-law Chris's 35th birthday, we were all invited to his mom Brenda's home for dinner and a party. They celebrated a week early because Brenda was going to be out of town on Chris's actual birthday. We enjoyed grilled burgers and a variety of delicious salads before Chris opened his gifts. We ended a pleasant evening with homemade birthday cake and ice cream.  

20 Mar 2013: Chris made out like a bandit!

There you have it: a year's worth of birthdays in one blog post! I think they were happy birthdays all around!

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