It’s birthday season and I’m up!  Happy Birthday to me 🙂 Kathryn put on a wonderful concert the day before and we brought all the kids.  Lots of fun!

Yum yum!

Kids make birthdays a lot of fun!

Eliza created this clever game using a magnet behind the paper to maneuver the little man and the goal was to get the chicken into the box.  She’s always dreaming up fun creations.

Birthday dinner at the Hawker’s.  Incredible food.  And then we had an ice cream sundae bar afterwards.  Happy chaos.  Afterwards, we had a nice quiet chat with Tim and Suzanne.  Thanks for the fun evening!

Landon’s last birthday gift to me.  He wanted me to pull out his front tooth on my birthday!  Mission accomplished.

The kids write the sweetest notes.  They are the most prized birthday gifts.  From Ashley:

From Eliza:

From Landon, who insisted he do this entirely on his own without any assistance:

Thanks everyone for helping me have a special birthday!  I love you all!

Happy Thanksgiving 2024!  First, a little side project needed finishing up before Kevin and Bethany came to stay with us on their way up to Idaho.  Over the course of several weeks, we printed out all the pieces to make an abstract world map wall display.  It was finally time to get it all glued together.

Hanging it on the wall was the worst part!  So many measurements and being so careful.  Good thing I busted out the laser eyes to get it all dialed in.

What a relief to have it all up.  Also, so excited to go to bed.

Here is the finished product! I think it turned out great!

Breakfast with Kevin and Bethany.  It was fun to have them over for the night.

Our turn to make the drive up.  Hanging with the kiddos for a bit through Idaho.

Grandpa Gerald hugs are the best!

Craft time.  Happy girls.

This was a terrific turkey shoot.  The kids all got a chance to shoot the 22s.

And then we got out the shotguns for an epic game of Annie Oakley.  Steve Harmon and Nephi came over to hang out and it was fun to see them and battle it out just like in the good ol’ days.

Josie and Jimmy cooked and carved the turkey.  It turned out super good.

Digging in.

I am thankful for you!

Zoey and I played a game of “down the hatch”.

Looking good.

Driving the RC car with Kevin and Mom.

Evening hang out at Grandma Nancy’s house.

This year, we got to celebrate Mom’s birthday in person with her, enjoying the traditional German Pancakes.

And, of course, the stair picture!

We cooked up my rice and beans recipe for dinner that night.

One last dog pile on the birthday girl.

Heading home.  What a good Thanksgiving!  We truly are grateful for all the wonderful people in our life.