Traditions! Traditions!

What does it mean when you take a corn dog..


and add French Fries....
Add a tossed Green Salad....
And a lovely Green Jell-O salad....


And a delicious dessert?


It adds up to Emily's traditional Birthday Dinner.

Emily has chosen this SAME birthday dinner since she was three. She could choose anything she wants and she always chooses corn dogs, french fries, green salad, AND Green Jell-O.

Yum! Yum!

Too Much Birthday!

About 30 minutes after the best surprise of my life, Ron came home from work. Since our young adult children were STARVING we took them to Subway where they partook from the sandwichy goodness. It was so much fun talking and catching up and getting to know Dustin. You know, I really like this guy. Good job, Heather!

Saturday morning, Christie climbed into bed with me like old times sake. We talked for quite some time and then Ron brought us both breakfast in bed--whole wheat waffles, bacon (OK, Christie did not have bacon but she COULD have), fresh strawberries and orange juice. What a treat! Ron, Jennifer, and Jacob then came in and standing in a row at the foot of the bed clasped their hands in front of them and began singing a breath-taking arrangement of "Happy Birthday." Truly indescribable. You would have to be there.

After breakfast, Gary and Vicki graciously allowed us to come over and ride their quads. Gary made a one mile track throughout his property by getting up at 6:00 am. I was touched by his sacrifice. It was the first time I had ever driven an ATV and truthfully, between you and me, I'm not very good at it. But, it was still very fun.



We then cleaned up, put on church clothes and went to the Sacramento Temple to do baptisms. My sister, Carol and her husband Dan and daughter Lauren joined us. When Ron had asked me a few weeks earlier what I wanted for my birthday, I told him I would like to go to the temple. Our ward's youth were planning on going and I couldn't imagine a better place to be with my little family. Ron knew the others were coming and called the temple to set up a family baptismal session. He then called a few good people in our stake to see if they had family names to use. He invited Dan and Carol to come, too. Can I just say again how awesome he is? The amazing thing is I had NO idea any of this was happening. We have many people who can keep a very good secret.

I absolutely loved being in the temple with my family. Ron was the recorder and Carol and I were "towel women." Dan, Jacob, and Dustin took turns baptizing different people. It was very sweet to see them exercise their priesthood. I don't think I will ever forget the tender look Jacob gave Jennifer before he began baptizing her for others.

We all went to Chile's for a late lunch. The food was great and it was fun laughing and talking. Carol interrogated Dustin during lunch. "How do you feel about changing dirty diapers?" "When your five of your six kids are acting up in Sacrament Meeting, who is going to take them out?" Dustin answered every question with flying colors. Did I mention how much I like this guy? Good job, Heather!


The rest of the day was filled with walks on the levee, Chinese food, Marie Callendar's Chocolate Satin Pie (my favorite!) and more talking. We got to bed very late. It truly was the best birthday I can remember. I think they should come and surprise me on my 100th birthday. By then I probably won't remember my 50th and it will be another great surprise!

Surprise!

A week ago Friday started as a normal day. Changed sheets. Washed towels. Picked up the house. Worked on a Sacrament meeting talk (OK, maybe that wasn't a typical part of a normal day, thank goodness!) and took Emily to and from school. Friday evening after a delicious dinner I took Emily over to the Stone's so Emily could get a blessing. She had a sore throat and twisted her ankle. Her dad wasn't home from work and she was performing a preview of The Music Man that evening. She was worried about how she would do. Her Uncle Gary graciously gave her a blessing and then I dropped her off at the high school. I saw my Bishop in the school parking lot and we smiled and waved to each other. Than it was time to go home.

I couldn't wait to see Ron! We hadn't seen each other since Wednesday morning. As I neared my home I saw a car with a Utah license plate around the corner from where I live.

"Oh, great! It's probably a BYU student selling the Living Scriptures," I thought. I have nothing against the Living Scriptures. Or enthusiastic BYU students selling various products--aka Living Scriptures, satellite systems, or pest control. In fact in our area, these earnest young fellows are affectionately called the "Bug Boys" or the "Dish Boys" or some other term of endearment. But frankly, I'm not in the market for The Living Scriptures and I hate hurting people's feelings.

As I opened the garage door, I was somewhat disappointed to see that Ron still wasn't home from work. As I unlocked the door leading to my laundry room I noticed my alarm system wasn't set.

"That's strange," I thought. "I'm sure I set it."

As I walked down the hall I heard voices--male voices.

"That's strange," I thought. "I'm sure I didn't leave the TV on."

Instead of calling 911 like any rational person--or quickly backing out of the house, into my car, and running back to the Stone's where THEY could call 911, I kept on walking down the hall.

Female voices were now added to the male voices.

"Maybe I did leave the TV on," I thought.

As I approached the family room to turn off the TV (which really wasn't on) I saw out of the corner of my eye people--lots of people--standing around in the living room. Instead of screaming, running back down the hallway and out of the house, I took a second look.

There was Christie. And Heather. And Jennifer. And Jacob. And someone I had never seen before. It was my children! Who should have been in Utah! There was much shrieking and rejoicing and hugs. They had driven all day in order to surprise me for my birthday which was the following day. Once I hugged everyone I turned to the "stranger" and asked, "Are you Dustin?" It was! Heather had brought her "special friend" home and it was great meeting him, too.

It was the beginning of the celebration of the BEST birthday EVER!