Happy Birthday, Jake!

Jake and birthday cake at his party one day before his actual birthday.

For yesterday's weekly Sunday family dinner, we celebrated my son-in-law Jake's 27th birthday (which actually falls on today, April 30th). I spent the morning baking the cake he requested--carrot cake with cream cheese frosting--and a sugar-free cheesecake for those of us who are doing low-carb.

Jake's birthday-dinner request: Caprese Chicken.

Just before people started arriving, I put together dinner's main dish to go in the oven. Jake asked for Caprese Chicken, which is a delicious family favorite. Cover the bottom of the baking dish in heavy whipping cream, drizzle it with basil pesto, and sprinkle it with shredded Parmesan. Meanwhile, slice each boneless, skinless chicken breast crosswise with six slits. Into each slit, tuck half of a basil leaf. Then go back and alternately tuck a half-slice of Roma tomato and a half-slice of fresh mozzarella into every other slit. Then bake for about an hour at 350 degrees. Yum!

Sarah also made us a big, lovely, green salad. It was a great dinner, and every bite was gone before the evening was over!

Small gift stack this year...for a reason.

Then it was time to open presents. Jake had told Dylan he'd like to drive down to the Valley on his birthday and see the movie Avengers: Infinity War at an IMAX theater, something neither Jake nor Dylan had ever done. So Dylan asked everyone for a gift of money to help pay for the trip and the film. Sarah and Chris, Jacob, and Mark each gave $20 for the cause.

Sarah got creative with her gift!

Sarah was a little tricky with her gift. She put the twenty-collar bill in a small gift box, then covered it with little blue glass drops. Jake was so tickled by this that he declared he was keeping the box and the glass drops as a reminder of the gift.

There's a story behind this birthday card...

As for me, I told Dylan I wanted to give Jake an actual gift. I gave most of the men in our family gift cards at Christmas because that's what most of them asked for, but I think gifts of money are kind of unimaginative (although there are certainly times when they're appropriate, like this particular request).

While I was wrapping Jake's gifts, between baking cakes, I realized I'd forgotten to get a birthday card for him. However, I have a collection of old cards I bought but forgot to give over the years, especially when my kids were young and far more interested in their presents. When I went through the stash of cards, I found this big Harry Potter card I'd gotten for Dylan's 7th or 8th birthday but forgot to write in it, so I never gave it to him. I thought it would be humorous to now give it to Jake instead.

Jake with his new Harry Potter wizards' coin set.

Jake had a great laugh over getting the card that was once meant for Dylan as a Harry Potter-loving child. It was also appropriate at this time because Jake is a fantasy-and-science fiction-loving nerd like me, and the gift I chose for him was an official collection of the coins used in the wizard world of Harry Potter: the galleon, the sickle, and the knut.

Jake decides on a birthday wish before blowing out the candles.

Soon it was time for cake and ice cream. Along with his carrot cake, Jake had asked for vanilla ice cream. I also provided chocolate syrup for those who wanted to dress up the vanilla a bit. We sang happy birthday and Jake blew out the candles, and then we served up the goodies.

I joked that we'll be able to reuse the "27" candles for my son Jacob in June. 1991 was a good year for baby boys named Jacob!

Speaking of Jacob... During the evening Sarah and Dylan both got out their old baby books and looked through them, laughing and reminiscing over the old memories I'd preserved for them. Sarah was amazed to find almost-blonde, perfectly straight locks of hair from her childhood, so different from her medium-brown, kinky-curly hair of today. Dylan laughed over the pages from TV Guide I'd saved from the days of their births, with the TV shows we watched back then highlighted.

Then Dylan came across items I'd saved from when he was hospitalized with pneumonia at the age of two. With them was a handmade card Jacob--who was eight at the time--had made for Dylan at school, because he was worried about his baby brother being sick in the hospital. Immediately, Dylan called Jacob (who still lives in Utah) to thank him for the card he'd made all those years ago. It was both funny and sweet. I sure do love my family!

Happy birthday, Jake! I hope you're loving your IMAX experience today