Better Late Than Never

My sister Sandy's birthday was last weekend; and Susan, Abigail, and I had been planning a trip to visit and celebrate with her. However, Mother Nature had other ideas. A blizzard swept across North Dakota, bringing hazardous travel conditions to our edge of the state, so we chose not to chance it on the roads.

Thankfully, a one-week delay didn't dampen the celebration. We just postponed, waited out the snow, and tried again this weekend.

It was a quick but enjoyable day trip. We made the drive up to Tioga this morning and headed straight to Dad's house for dinner with him and Sandy. The highlight of the afternoon was the homemade birthday cake that Susan baked for the occasion. Then we all headed out to Pour Decisions Bar and Steakhouse for a delicious supper. It was the perfect way to wrap up our time together before we had to hit the road again this evening.

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Susan made a retro Jell-O poke cake (with homemade whipped cream), which brought Sandy and me right back to our childhood days.

Sandy, Susan, I, Dad, and Abigail with our bellies full just before leaving Pour Decisions.

Celebrating Susan

Susan's birthday was on Monday, and the celebration started then and continued today as we hosted visitors who came to our home bearing birthday treats for her. Read on for the details.

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Susan had to work on her birthday, so the festivities had to wait until the evening. We went out for supper at Los Cabos but had dessert at home: Susan's requested birthday cake was actually brownies, which Abigail baked and served with vanilla ice cream.

I had flowers delivered to Susan at work so she'd have a bit of birthday cheer during the day. Her colleagues treated her well, too, with more flowers, a German chocolate cake, and other treats.

Susan opened her birthday gifts in the evening. The girls gave her gift certificates for nail salon and spa outings for some pampering. On her Christmas wish list, Susan had requested games that we could play as a family, so I got her a couple of those and a scented, weighted wrap that you heat up and then drape across your neck and shoulders to relieve tension. I also gave her this "birthday date night" experience, and we have already scheduled it for next month.

Fast-forward to today, when my sister Sandy and our dad came to Dickinson to spend the day with us. As a birthday treat, Sandy made lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, which we had mid-afternoon with coffee. We also had a mini spa day with everyone choosing from our collection of sheet masks for a little facial in the afternoon--and even Dad participated. We ate tater tot hotdish for dinner and lasagne for supper ... and more cupcakes for dessert.

Before Sandy and Dad headed back home, we had a video call with our Tennessee daughters. In this screenshot from our call, that's Sandy and Abigail (in our basement); Hillary and her dog, Dodger (in TN); I and Dad (in our dining room); Susan (in our bedroom); and Suzanna, her fiancé, Jacob, and their dog, Zoey (in TN).

Dad and I. Don't we look youthful and rejuvenated from our spa day?

Family Holiday Week

There is a week in August when Susan and I celebrate our wedding anniversary, and Abigail and I both have our birthdays. Abigail and Hillary both happened to be home for that week this year! (The school year has started in Tennessee for Suzanna, so she's back in teaching mode.)

Med school student Abigail has finished her year of clinical rotations at hospitals in New York City, so she drove home on August 7 to spend the next year living with Susan and me while applying for, interviewing for, and crossing her fingers for a residency with a hospital somewhere in the country. A residency would start next summer, so Abigail will spend this year teaching online college classes in anatomy and physiology.

On August 8, Hillary drove home instead of flying here, in part to have her vehicle with her so that she can haul some more of her belongings from our house to her townhome in Tennessee ... and in part to attend a college friend's wedding ... and in part to be here for two family birthdays and an anniversary!

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On August 9, my sister Sandy and our dad spent the day with us in Dickinson for an early birthday celebration. 

Sandy, Dad, and me

Hillary, Grandpa, and Abigail

Sandy brought homemade angel food cake, strawberries, and whipped cream; and Susan made a chocolate/zucchini cake with vanilla ice cream.

On August 10 (my birthday), we celebrated with Mexican food and margaritas at one of our favorite restaurants, El Sombrero. On August 12 (Abigail's birthday), there was mini-golf, food, and ice cream in Medora followed by supper in Dickinson: Thai food from another favorite restaurant, Upin Thai.

August 14, our anniversary, was a full day of back-to-school teacher workshops for Susan, so we saw a movie that night but delayed our dining out until the next day. Today we celebrated some more with dinner with Susan's family (her dad, Roger; his girlfriend, JoAnn; and Susan's brother, Jerrett) at The Lodge at the Stadium Sports Bar in Bismarck ... followed by supper at LongHorn Steakhouse with just the girls.

Abigail, the anniversary couple (32 years!), and Hillary

Frigid Adventures

Susan and I spent the Presidents Day long weekend in Tioga, North Dakota, with my dad and my sister Sandy. The weather was bitterly cold, and Dad's furnace was malfunctioning throughout the weekend, necessitating daily visits from his furnace repair guy, Caleb. When Susan and I arrived Friday night, Dad sent us out to buy a couple space heaters, and those were a big help in between Caleb's drop-ins. It also helped that Dad has a heated garage--so I left the door open between the garage and the house, and the garage furnace helped keep the house warm, too.

The worst part about the weather was that it prevented us from meeting up this morning with Marie, our childhood neighbor (she grew up on a farm north of ours) and our cousin. (We think she is our mom's second cousin. Sandy and I worked through the family tree, and we think that Marie's dad and our maternal grandma were first cousins and that Marie's paternal grandpa and our maternal great-grandma were siblings. But we have always just said we are Marie's cousins.) Marie is visiting her brother and his family, who live in the area, and we had planned to meet Marie at Sandy's home this morning. However, the temperature was -40° Fahrenheit, and Marie's vehicle, quite understandably, didn't want to start.

We had been looking forward to seeing Marie and having an in-person opportunity to thank her for her hospitality toward our daughter Abigail last year. Abigail spent her third year of medical school completing her clinicals in hospitals in Epsom just outside of London, England, where Marie runs a telecommunications software company. Marie welcomed Abigail for visits to her home, showed her around London, and was a kind and generous family presence for Abigail while she was living so far away from us all. Abigail loved getting to know Marie, and Susan and I are grateful that Marie was there for our daughter.

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I had these flowers delivered to Susan at school midweek so she could enjoy them for a few days before we left town for the weekend.

After work on Friday, Susan and I went out for Valentine's Day supper at one of our favorite restaurants, El Sombrero. Then we hit the road for Tioga.

Saturday night we went out for supper in Williston. Sandy was our chauffeuse.

We ate at the Williston Brewing Company. The decor is a mix of Wild West and oil field.

The food and drinks were terrific. Here is my filet mignon topped with a skewer of shrimp and served with Brussels sprouts and roasted potatoes with red pepper. Delicious!

It was an early birthday celebration for Sandy (her birthday is next week) and a belated Valentine's Day celebration for us all.

Mandatory group selfie on our way out of the restaurant.

Yesterday we hung out at Dad's house, cooked, watched a couple movies together, and had video calls from a couple daughters. Today we went to Sandy's (she lives on the farm where we grew up), and she made a fried chicken dinner for us before we made our way back to Dickinson. Here is her sweet cat Simon, relaxing in the living room while we visited in the dining room.

A Two-Week Birthday Celebration

Susan's birthday was two weekends ago. It was on a Sunday, but her birthday festivities started two days earlier and continued through tonight!

Fridays are usually date nights for us, and a frequent spot for us to eat on a Friday is El Sombrero, a family-owned Mexican restaurant in Dickinson. When we arrived on the Friday before Susan's birthday, she asked for a table for two--but one of the brothers who run the place saw me and directed us to a table set for eight instead. I had called him earlier to make a reservation, and I surprised Susan by inviting some of our couples friends from church to join us for an early birthday celebration.

On Susan's actual birthday, her dad and his girlfriend, JoAnn, joined us at noon for a birthday meal at Butterhorn in downtown Bismarck. Butterhorn has great brunch items--and of course we had to start with some hot butterhorns topped with butter, raspberry jam, and vanilla icing (health food). In the afternoon we enjoyed a family video call with our daughters. In the evening, I made Susan a birthday supper of sautéed scallops, cavatappi alfredo, and Caesar salad. (It was just too frigid outside to venture out for another restaurant meal.)

Tonight we combined our date night with another (belated) birthday gathering. We met Susan's "lunch bunch" (a group of her coworkers with whom she eats lunch each day and who socialize with us and their spouses outside of work) at Los Cabos, another Mexican restaurant in Dickinson. The ladies in this group always exchange birthday and Christmas gifts, so Susan got to open presents; and the servers gathered to lead the other guests in singing "Happy Birthday" to her!

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I had a bouquet delivered to Susan at work on the Friday before her birthday. Our daughters had flowers delivered to her at work that day, too!

JoAnn and Roger with Susan and me at Butterhorn.

Susan and I had mimosas with our meal.

For Susan's birthday cake, I got her a variety of "bundtinis" from Nothing Bundt Cakes.

The servers at Los Cabos had Susan wear this sombrero while they led the restaurant in singing to her--and then they gave her a birthday dessert!

St. Maarten Vacation, Day 7

Happy birthday to Suzanna! In lieu of a birthday cake, Suzanna had a birthday pastry ... back to Jule's, the French pastry shop near Abigail's apartment.

Then we went to Simpson Bay (the Dutch side of the island) and the Sint Maarten Yacht Club there, where we boarded a boat with Boomerang Boat Charters. From 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., our captain and crew took us into the Caribbean Sea to voyage along the west, north, and east coasts of the main island with a few stops along the way (all on the French side of the island):

• at Creole Rock (a small island) to snorkel and explore the reef
• at Tintamarre Island to snorkel and swim with the green turtles
• at Pinel Island to feed the giant iguanas
• at Long Bay to jump off the roof of the boat and play in the water

Throughout the day, they served us tropical cocktails. Midday they grilled shrimp skewers and chicken kebabs for our meal (and for dessert served birthday brownies!). And we lay out on the front of the boat for the long ride back from Pinel Island to Long Bay, drowsing in the sun and blinking the occasional sprays of salt water out of our eyes. So relaxing!

In the evening, we went into Maho (adjacent to Cupecoy, where Abigail lives on the Dutch side) and had Mexican food for supper at Three Amigos. Then we enjoyed some of the nightlife of that area (albeit a little quieter than usual with the university students out of town for winter break), including drinks at a karaoke place called The Saint Dive Bar and at another place called the Hole in the Wall, where a musician performed an Elton John song and got the girls to join several other women on stage to sing backup!

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A French pastry made by a pastry chef who actually is French? Magnifique!

The girls snorkeling at Creole Rock.

Abigail snorkeling out where we saw green turtles surfacing for air while Suzanna and Hillary hang out with me (a non-swimmer) near the boat.

Suzanna with a bite of her birthday brownie!

The requisite family photo in the elevator at Abigail's apartment. Off to supper!

Tasty food and a cool vibe with the decor ... and a fitting backdrop for these three! 💗💗💗

Suzanna did not actually know the song that the girls were called onstage to help sing ... so note her conferring with her sisters for a crash course on the lyrics!