Happy Big # 80, Dad!

Hard to imagine, but last night we met in Kinder for Dad's 80th Birthday celebration.  My sister made two cakes (coconut cake - Dad's favorite) and mom make two coconut pies.  We ate a huge pot of shrimp etouffee over rice, garlic bread and salad.  Mom, Dad, the kids and grandkids and family all gathered in the kitchen and we held hands and Dad asked God's blessing on the food and the family time we'd share.  I took a photo of everyone around the circle.

And more people...

And more...

And even more...

We sat around the table for a long time, eating and visiting and laughing about memories.  We thanked Dad for being such a good model for us as a leader, a husband, a father, and a grandfather always being there for all of us.  

Then it was time to blow out 1/10th of the candles.

And he got the job done!

Happy Birthday, Dad!  We love you...

Happy 14th, Benjamin!

Benjamin will be celebrating his 14th Birthday on the 14th of January.  Although I hadn't heard this lately, this used to be called a "grand birthday," when your age matches the day of the month that your birthday falls on.  Since both Laura Lee and Russ will be back at college on the 14th, we wanted to be able to celebrate together as a family, so we had an early celebratory meal and baked Benjamin's favorite cake - A Marble Chocolate Swirl cake with pecans!  It was really no hard feat to convince Benjamin to celebrate his birthday a little early.

We'll there was one little bit of convincing that had to be done.  Rules are rules - even on your birthday.  You must eat your vegetables BEFORE you eat dessert.  I wrestle with this rule a bit as I tend to ascribe to the "Life is short, eat dessert first" mentality, but okay.  Here is Laura helping encourage Benjamin to eat his broccoli so that both he and the rest of the family could enjoy some cake.

Eat your veggies, young man!

At last Benjamin ate his veggies and we all got ready to sing, light the candles, and cut the cake. Here is the birthday boy complete with his loving family, a party hat, his cake on the Special Day Red plate, and a bottle of Black Currant Sparkling juice to celebrate Benjamin's big day.

Happy 14th Birthday, Benjamin!  We Love You!

It is really amazing how fast time flies.  Our BABY is 14.  Oh my!  Happy Birthday, Benjamin!  We love you!!

Happy Birthday Tricia!

So today was my wife's 47th birthday!  This remarkable woman wears many hats: wife, mother, milkmaid, chef, homeschool teacher, family doctor, bill payer, clean-up crew, veterinarian, butcher, gardener, herbalist, launderer...  (you get the picture).  Today she's also wearing the birthday hat!

Getting ready to blow out the candle

Yours truly baked her a chocolate cake and iced it and the boys and I sang to the birthday girl.

Blowing out the candle

We took care of all the chores around the house today and did the milking in the afternoon so the birthday girl could relax and then we went out to eat in Lake Charles at one of Tricia's favorite restaurants.  When it came time for dessert, she didn't want any - she wanted to drive home and eat the cake that I made.  We drove home quickly and the four of us devoured a lot of the cake.

Tasting one of the dark chocolate chips I added to the top of the cake

Happy Birthday, Tricia.  Enjoy YOUR day.

Happy Birthday, Tricia!  We love you!!