April always sneaks up on me, and so does my birthday. This year was no exception. M treated me to a fun birthday date Friday evening, we even got a babysitter for Jay. She told us Jay was great for her, which we were very grateful for. We went and played pickleball with our pickleball set we got from Steph for Christmas. We had such an awesome time! M won most of the games, but I creamed him once which made it feel a little more evenly matched. We played until the sun went down, then headed to dinner. We tried out a grill on Main Street in Brighton, which was pretty good. They gave me a free cheesecake because it was my birthday. It was so fun to spend an evening together! We haven't made the time for that in a while so it was very nice and the perfect gift.
Birthdays are meant to be celebrated more than one day, so on my birthday we didn't do much else besides watch General Conference. M made a super fun sign, and had all my presents ready before we left for the Merrill's. I got a swimsuit, swim shorts, some heal healing socks, a wireless phone charger, collapsible funnels, food prep bag holders, and some sunscreen. All things I am super excited about! Watching conference with an active 2 year old is a new experience, and it makes it a little difficult to listen, but we enjoyed the day hearing what we did. We took our afternoon break at a park and enjoyed the women's session at home. I got so many happy birthday calls and texts, which made the day extra special. The Merrill's also made me a super cool sign that I got to look at all Conference weekend.
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| A waffle breakfast, with raspberries, I was spoiled! |
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| Jay loved it too. |
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| Jay, Abby, Kylee, Tia, Kade - all enjoying Conference Treats |
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| Tia pulling Jay and Kade |
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| Cinnamon rolls, they had to raise all night - this is a pic of them pre-risen... |
Sunday was a fun continued celebration. I tried a new cinnamon roll recipe, GF, and they turned out so good! Jack came over before conference and enjoyed them with me. M and I made dinner for everyone that evening, including the Bryce's. Taco salad was top notch, and M made me the coolest birthday cake. It was a double layer, chocolate, bunny cake. I had many bunny cakes as a kid, and the last one I had Kara made me in college. This was the first time doing a double layer and it was the bomb. So delicious and looked super awesome too. The kids were so excited about it! Abby said, "I love it" when she saw it. I am so grateful we got to spend my birthday weekend with family, that's the best gift of all! Having family close enough to celebrate with.
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| Kylee, Kade, Allen, Jay, Me, Tia, Betty Jane, Roxy, Abby |
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| Jason, Katey, Me, Matthew, Jack, Lindsay |
Oma and Papa came to town only a few days after my birthday! We were lucky enough to have them stay with us Wednesday and Thursday, then Sunday and Monday. Papa is a miracle worker and went to work helping us fix some issues we were having. One was the floor board in our kitchen bowing, causing a tripping and sliver hazard. We didn't know exactly how to fix it, but we started the job and ended the evening with only 1 run to Lowe's and a fixed floor. Friday morning we had much better weather so Papa did some yard work for us. He fixed some of our edging and moved a bunch of rock around to cover our bare spots. He pulled bunches of weeds from the lawn and Oma helped me trim some bushes. I am so grateful for their help! Our yard looks a million times better already. We loved having them here, and Jay especially loved that Papa was up and ready to get him out of bed every day. We had a picnic in the park on Monday with Katey and the twins, which was great fun. Their stays are never long enough! The main reason Oma and Papa came to town was for Allen's baptism. He was baptized on Friday, April 8th, exactly 22 years after me. What a special day it was for him! He's a sweet kid, and full of love and life. We had fun being together with the family all weekend for meals, ice cream, and chatting.
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| Mid-process |
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| Finished product! |
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| Oma, Me, Abby, Katey, Kade |
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| Papa and Jay |
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| The Bryce Family! |
