Happy 9th Birthday, Abigail!

Our little girl Abigail turned nine years old today! She still has the same bubbly, energetic personality that she had when she was born, and Susan and I enjoyed telling her stories about her birth and what she was like as a baby. Now she's old enough to tell her own stories; Abigail is today's guest blogger:

"I woke up and had this funny feeling: it was nervousness and excitement because it is my birthday! I got upstairs, and there were Daddy and Mom, and they were both wishing me 'Happy Birthday'! Mom was making waffles for my birthday breakfast, and they were very good.

"Then we started getting ready for my birthday party. Suzanna and I made signs that told where we were going to have the party [in the family room downstairs]. The games that we set up were Pin Your Name on the Purse, Charades, and Cake Station, which is a coloring station at our craft table with cake-themed coloring sheets [which they found on the Internet and printed off; they also set out markers, crayons, stickers, scissors--all the things they figured kids would want in order to decorate their own birthday cakes]. That took a long time. We made signs that said, 'Partyland This Way!' and 'Warning! Now Entering Partyland!' Another sign we made was 'Presents,' and we put it over the presents area.

"At dinner time, we went to Sanford's, and Suzanna and I shared the Where the Buffalo Roam salad [featuring chicken tenders in Buffalo sauce with bleu cheese dressing], and Hillary had the Humpty Dumpty [a fried egg sandwich]. Daddy and Mommy shared a chef salad. For dessert, they served me a triple-scoop ice cream sundae on a giant chocolate chip cookie [this is Sanford's' gift to customers who come in on their birthdays; faithful readers will recall that we usually make a stop at Sanford's on our birthdays just for this reason!].

"Then we dropped Suzanna off at band lessons. After we picked her up again, we came back home and did more preparations: finished decorating the purse with the rest of the stickies; organized the Cake Station; did last-minute cleaning; and finished the clues for a scavenger hunt, planned by Suzanna. And then, 'Ding-dong!' and in walked Hannah! We gave her a tour, and she put her present down, and she put her stuff down for a sleepover. A few minutes later, yet again: 'Ding-dong!' and in came Kaina! We gave her a tour, she put down her present, and we just sat down and talked

"In a few minutes, pizza was ready, so we came upstairs, got our pizza, and we went onto the veranda to eat with our tropical punch. After supper, we loaded into our van and went mini-golfing. Hannah won, of course. Then we came back home, and we had our scavenger hunt. We had ice cream cake from Dairy Queen, and then we opened presents. Then we went downstairs and played Pin Your Name on the Purse and then Charades. Then it was time for Kaina to go home. We changed into our pajamas. Hannah and I chose a movie (High School Musical 2) and watched it. Now it is time for us to go to sleep.

Abigail, Hanna, Kaina (back to camera), Hillary, and Suzanna eating pizza, carrot sticks, apple slices, and celery boats (some loaded with peanut butter and some with spreadable cheese) and drinking Kool-Aid on our veranda.

Abigail's warming up on the first hole.

Suzanna's unorthodox golfing stance allowed her to extricate her ball from beneath the fire engine trap on the fifth hole.

Abigail, Hannah, Hillary, Kaina, and Suzanna pose at the lighthouse on the 18th hole.

Kaina, Abigail (notice where she has the chin strap), Hannah, Suzanna, and Hillary

"My birthday was awesome, and I was glad I could share it with my family and friends. I even got to talk on the phone to my aunties Cathy and Cheryl. Here are the presents I got:

• from Hannah: an eyeglasses case and a T-shirt, both of them with High School Musical logos on them


• from Kaina: an "A" necklace, a pink-with-butterfly T-shirt, some candy, a purse, and a ballet shoe charm to attach to a backpack


• from Hillary: a Barbie car and clothes for Banana, my Build-a-Bear


• from Suzanna: a Lil' Kinz dog and Webkinz clothes for it


• from Mom and Dad: the Disney Mania 6 CD, a purple personalized piano bag to carry my music for piano lessons, clothes, and a body book


• from Cheryl and Arron: a savings bond, T-shirts and jeans, and Polly Pocket Pop 'n' Swap Fashion Frenzy toy


• from Grandpa and Grandma Moberg: a card with a check in it for me to buy my own present


• from Cassie and Nick: pajamas, a dress, a pencil, a sharpener, a pencil top stamp, an eraser, and a pack of stationery"

It's so fun to watch Abigail open gifts; she's so delighted by and grateful for everything!

"I'm Coming, Elizabeth"

(If the allusion in the title of this post escapes you, read this.)

Today my sister-in-law Cheryl stopped by our house on her way to a wedding in Bowman, ND (home of Miss Rodeo America 2007 Ashley Andrews, by the way). Cheryl shared her scrapbook of photos from her recent trip to Mexico with her husband, Jerrett (Susan's brother), and we gave her a tour of the home improvement projects that she hadn't yet seen.

Then we took her out to eat at a new dining establishment in Dickinson: Sanford's Grub & Pub. I went there for lunch this week to celebrate the birthday of one of our coworkers, and I really enjoyed it; and we enjoyed our meals there today, too. There are burgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, and some dinner items, too (pasta, seafood, steaks, etc.). The flatware is oversized (the forks are the same size as those normally used to serve sliced roast beef in most restaurants), and so are the food portions--and everything's good.

The theme is most interesting. The walls inside are covered within an inch of their life with--for lack of a better word--"crap." It is supposed to evoke the atmosphere of a junk yard, and it looks like the interior decorators raided every antique shop, flea market, garage sale, and defunct county museum within a hundred-mile radius. Nothing is dirty or run-down, mind you; but everything is "of another era," and there is a lot of it, with one item screwed over the edge of another and half-hidden behind another, etc., for a distinctly "layered" three-dimensional effect on every wall, as well as on the exposed rafters in the ceiling, as well as in the lobby area, as well as on the ground outside the restaurant. There are road signs and old dolls and stuffed animals and kitchen gadgets and gas station memorabilia and ladies' hats and on and on and on.

There are no napkins. Instead, a roll of paper towels rests on pipes fitted into automobile wheel rims on the floor at the end of each table. The plates are made of molded, worn aluminum. The menu items have names that brag about the junk yard theme ("Bent Bumper") as well as the deep-fried theme ("Kardiac Arrest," "Angioplasty"). It's an overall approach that ought to turn someone off ("Why would I want to sit in a junk yard and eat food that's bad for me?"), but it's actually an appealing atmosphere. There is something to look at no matter where one's eyes might wander, and one could never manage to take in everything no matter how many visits one makes. The menu is huge, too--both figuratively (lots of choices) and literally (if it were firmer, it would make a good-sized tray for the servers to deliver plates of food).

We had a good time and have a photograph to prove it:

Abigail, Susan, Hillary, Cheryl, and Suzanna outside Sanford's Grub & Pub in Dickinson, ND

P.S. There are Sanford's restaurants in WY and SD, too. Read about them here and here.

Abigail's 8th Birthday!

Today's guest blogger is Abigail, the birthday girl:

I woke up, and right when I got upstairs, my mom saw me and asked if I wanted fried eggs for breakfast, and I said, "Yes, please." I went into the office, and Hillary and my dad were watching video clips of Hairspray on the computer. Hillary stole the first batch of eggs, so I had to wait my turn to get some more. I ate breakfast, and I went downstairs, washed up, and brushed my teeth. I had to go back upstairs to ask Mom what I should wear. I got into my black "A" [monogrammed] T-shirt and into my white skirt that goes with it. Mom had to pin up my skirt so that it would stay on me.

Then we went to Peace Lutheran Church. On the way there, the van made funny sounds, so my dad started to turn around. When he pressed on the brake, the sound stopped. We turned back around and went to church. When we first got there, a lady asked us girls if we wanted coloring sheets. We said, "No, thank you." We walked around the corner and saw that there were chairs lined up in rows like pews. There was a kids' time when we went up front, and we talked about one of the day's Bible readings about the stars in the sky [Genesis 15:1-6]. The Silver Sage Quartet [four elderly gentlemen singing in four-part harmony à la barbershop quartets] sang three songs of worship during church; one of the songs they sang was a prayer ["The Lord's Prayer"].

After church we were about to leave when a man came up to us and asked if we wanted to stay for coffee. Of course, we said, "Yes." So we chatted and met some new friends. We ate fruit and a roll; the grown-ups drank coffee, and we (meaning my sisters and I) drank orange punch. Then we went to Applebee's. I shared with Daddy because the meals were so big. We shared a tortilla chicken melt and teriyaki steak 'n' shrimp skewers. I told our server that it was my birthday, so after I was done with my meal, I got a balloon and a birthday sundae, and I got a birthday song from Applebee's.

Abigail, the beautiful eight-year-old

Her complimentary balloon and birthday sundae from Applebee's

We came back home, and I opened presents. From Grandpa and Grandma Moberg, I got an Eeyore pen, lotion, body spray, a dress, denim capris, and a T-shirt. From Hillary, I got a Littlest Pet Shop toy. From Suzanna, I got a Polly Pocket toy car. From Mom and Dad, I got a pink CD player [when she unwrapped it and saw what it was, she exclaimed, "Hot dog!"], a Hannah Montana soundtrack CD, a fuzzy bear bookmark, an anklet, and a toe ring. I got a greeting card and savings bond from my aunt, uncle, and cousin Cheryl, Jerrett, and Arron (with the rest of the gift to come, Cheryl wrote) and a card from our neighbors the Olsens.

"You talkin' to me?!" -- Suzanna being goofy while watching Abigail open gifts

Loving every gift she opened!

Stylish clothing from Grandma and Grandpa

"Thanks for the gifts, Dad and Mom!"

Negotiating the clasp on the ankle bracelet

Modeling the new jewelry

Then somebody ding-donged on the doorbell. It was our neighbor Jordanne. She came into our living room, and we listened to my Hannah Montana CD, and then we had some cake. Then she left, and we played with my birthday gifts. Then we went mini-golfing. It was the first time I ever mini-golfed--or golfed--in my lifetime. It was really fun. Daddy won the game.

With birthdays so close together, Daddy and Abigail shared one cake.

Pre-candle-blowout: Hillary, Daddy, Abigail, Jordanne, Suzanna

Suzanna perfecting her form

Abigail following through

Hillary averaging ten strokes per hole (maximum par on any hole in the course: four)

Then we went to Wal-Mart to exchange my birthday clothes to get bigger sizes. After that we went to Sanford's for supper. Daddy and I shared a Cajun chicken Caesar salad, and we all shared an appetizer (chili cheese fries). Then we had dessert (they brought me ice cream piled on top of a big cookie), and I got a birthday song from Sanford's.

Abigail with her monstrous birthday cookie sundae from Sanford's (she shared, by the way)

After that we started off to Belfield. When we got there, we had to wander a little bit to find the movie theater. When we got there, we were early, so we talked a little bit, and then Mom got two large bags of popcorn (they use real butter) and a root beer. We watched the movie Hairspray. It is a movie that features a time when blacks and whites didn't really go well together, and Tracy Turnblad makes them both friends. The movie was very, very exciting and nice, and there were really no scary parts to me. I really enjoyed it, especially because of all the great songs that people sang and the great acting. I thought that [the character] Seaweed was a very nice dancer.

After the movie, we were the last people out of the theater. We listened to the soundtrack from the movie on CD as we drove back to Dickinson. My eighth birthday was the best of all my birthdays because I got to see the best movie ever, and I spent the day with my family.

Vacation Day Cleaning and Valentine's Day Eating

I'm having a few moments of rest; it's been a long day, and I haven't yet started on any of the projects that I had for myself today! The girls didn't have school today, but Susan had to go to work for professional development workshops, so I stayed home with the kids. We started the day by sorting through the collection of Valentine's candy from their classmates, and then we noticed in the living room the piles of things that needed to be put away, and then we got to work on the stacks of clean laundry to put back into dressers and closets, which led me to discover . . . Hillary's bedroom.

The child had a disaster going on in there. In every corner, under the furniture, in the closet, under the bed, and on every horizontal surface, things were piled, stuffed, crammed, jammed, shoved, hidden, buried, tossed, flung, and generally out of order. This was not met with approval by Dad. She and I embarked on what turned out to be a day-long excavation. We filled and hauled out two 13-gallon garbage bags of detritus and flotsam. In the process, we rearranged her furniture to allow for better organization of, and access to, her belongings, and we got out the vacuum and cleaned her carpets and floorboards while we were at it. We enlisted the help of her sisters to go through her dresser drawers, sort shirts and socks, move some clothes to the closet shelf, and refold and tidy the remainders while I continued vacuuming the carpet in the other rooms upstairs.

We recovered many items from Hillary's bedroom that actually belong in other rooms: scissors and other supplies for the office, hair accessories and lotions and body sprays for the bathroom, makeup for the girls' "dress up" collection in the downstairs bathroom, some of her sisters' toys, clothes for the laundry basket, Christmas decorations for the storage room . . . sheesh! Suzanna and Abigail wisely made themselves scarce during the first part of my rampage through Hillary's bedroom, sequestering themselves in their own rooms and straightening up lest I should next make my way downstairs to examine their own abodes!

So Susan will come home from work to find things put away and clean, but she'll find me pulling my hair out over my undone "to do" list for work. Aargh! But onto a more pleasant topic:

We had a very nice Valentine's Day yesterday. We exchanged cards and gifts in the morning and then went off to Sunday school (I attended Abigail's pre-confirmation class with her to learn about the sacrament of communion) and church. We had a gift certificate to use at Taco John's, so that's where we went for dinner at noon. Following an afternoon of chores and homework, we went out for supper at Sanford's Grub and Pub, where we sat in the section of one of my former students, who just recently started working there and for whom Hillary worked diligently throughout the meal coloring a "You're awesome!" note for him on a hat/coloring sheet that children receive at that restaurant. (He told me that, once he got home after work, he put in up on his bulletin board. "I appreciate the hell outta it.")

While we waited in the lobby of Sanford's (for a table to become available), I had the lovely blonds pose for Valentine's Day photos. Here is Susan with our daughters.

Susan with our oldest daughter, Suzanna.

Susan with our "middlest" (Abigail's word) daughter, Abigail.

Susan and our youngest daughter, Hillary.

Susan and I. (By the way, we had our first date 19 years ago yesterday.)

Hillary's 8th Birthday!

That's our baby, Hillary. Does she look eight years old to you? Because that's what she is as of today! (Compare.) For breakfast she requested doughnuts from The Donut Hole, so she went with Susan this morning to pick up a half-dozen (and frou-frou coffees for Mommy and Daddy). She opened a birthday gift, too--an outfit, complete with sunglasses, from her SC aunt, uncle, and cousin--and ended up wearing it today. Then she was ready to begin her busy day.

A few weeks ago when I phoned for a haircut, I learned that today at noon was the only available opening, so I took it. When I hung up the phone and Hillary learned that my haircut would be on her birthday, she started to cry! June 19 was supposed to be all about her, I guess. However, she handled it just fine once today--and the haircut appointment--finally rolled around. The whole family accompanied me to the salon, from which we headed afterward to Sanford's (Hillary's request) for birthday dinner.

Suzanna, Hillary, and Abigail pose with Daddy!

Hillary had planned to share a Buffalo chicken salad with me, but after a few bites, she decided that it was too spicy for her tongue--and ended up swapping her share of the salad for Susan's bowl of chicken noodle soup. However, the real reason for being at Sanford's, of course, was the complimentary birthday cookie sundae (the server led us in singing "Happy Birthday to You" when she delivered the sundae to Hillary): a plate-sized chocolate chip cookie covered with three scoops of vanilla ice cream, one covered in strawberry sauce, one in butterscotch, and one in chocolate, sprinkled in butterscotch chips and chocolate chips and decorated with dollops of canned "whipped cream" product and a maraschino cherry. Behold:

She shared, and we all gorged ourselves and left in time for the girls to stop at home and change into swimming suits (and for Hillary to open another gift: matching outfits from her NE aunt for Hillary and her Build-a-Bear Workshop teddy bear) before the next event in Hillary's day: a swimming party at the West River Community Center. I went grocery shopping while Susan supervised the swimmers (our three girls plus a handful of Hillary's friends), after which Susan brought them back to our house for the birthday party. They played games, they opened gifts, they ate tacos-in-a-bag for supper, they played more games, they ate birthday cake, and they got into pajamas and nestled into their sleeping bags for a movie before the sleepover.

One of the girls sleeping over is Madeline, Hillary's best friend and our neighbor. Madeline's younger brother was part of the swimming/playing troupe, but he's not spending the night, so his parents, Chuck and Reba, stopped over after supper to pick him up. Of course, they were here for quite a while visiting before hauling him away for the night. Hillary's aunts Cassie, Sandy, and Cathy all phoned today, too, although Hillary was too distracted by the presence of friends in the house to concentrate on lengthy telephone conversations with any of them today.

Love that expression on Hillary's face! She looks so much like her aunt Cassie. Anyhoo, Hillary is holding up a necklace with the letter "H" on it from her friend Madeline. Not coincidentally, Hillary gave Madeline an "M" necklace for her birthday a couple weeks ago. Reba told us that Madeline wanted to give a matching necklace to Hillary as a token of their friendship. Ahhhhh!

The flip-flops on Hillary's ice cream cake are appropriate considering her wardrobe and today's swimming activity. She also gave flip-flops to her guests as party favors today.

I spent a good portion of the afternoon and evening in the kitchen. We have a lot of venison in our freezer (from Susan's dad and brother, both of whom are hunters), and I was on a mission to use some more of it. I created a robust marinade (dark beer, red onions, fresh rosemary, and various seasonings) for some venison chops and set them in the fridge to soak up the flavor overnight. I will grill them tomorrow for dinner.

Then I assembled the meat grinder attachment for our mixer and made some hamburger out of equal parts of sirloin tip roast, various venison cuts, and smoked bacon. I stopped grinding when Chuck and Reba arrived, but now that they're gone and the girls are quieting down, I'm going to turn that into Swedish meatballs, fry them up, make some gravy for them, and refrigerate them for our enjoyment in the next couple days. Cooking at midnight! Woo-hoo!!

While I was in the kitchen earlier this afternoon, one of the party guests, Lita, came upstairs, sent on an errand from Hillary, and found me before anyone else. She started her question with, "Hillary's Dad, can you . . . ?" I thought that was cute. I went downstairs with her and helped Hillary with her request. As I left the room to go back upstairs, I heard one of the girls say, "Your dad is so nice." Awwww.

Also nice is little Hillary. We can hardly believe that our youngest child is already so old! We have eight years of great memories and are looking forward to decades more!!

Suzanna's 12th Birthday!

Our oldest child is now 12 years old. Suzanna has been looking forward to this day for a long time, not only for the usual reasons (e.g., looking forward to the individual attention, to receiving gifts, to getting to choose the meals for the day, etc.) but for three others particularly tied to being 12 years of age:

1. A 12-year-old child, according to current vehicle safety regulations, may sit in the front passenger seat of a car. (Did you know that children younger than that ought to sit in the back seat? Susan and I have enforced that with our kids, so Suzanna has been eager for the "privilege" of sitting in the front.)
2. A 12-year-old child can be certified and hired as a babysitter, a job that Suzanna has been eager to hire herself out to do. (The American Red Cross provides babysitter training to children as young as 11. Susan and I thought it was 12 and have had Suzanna wait until now. Oops!) By the way, Suzanna got two phone calls today asking her to babysit tomorrow night . . . jobs she would have accepted happily had we not already planned to be out of town ourselves.
3. A 12-year-old child, in our household, can get her ears pierced.

Here are highlights from Suzanna's birthday:

One of Suzanna's gifts was a digital camera, with which she was thoroughly delighted. She quickly figured out many of its special features (e.g., taking photos in sepia or black-and-white modes) and snapped photos throughout the day no matter where we were or what we were doing. (Note in this photo the length of Suzanna's hair so that you may make a comparison to her hair in upcoming photos.)

These are our friends the Donners: Chad, Ethan, Audrey, and Sullivan. Audrey and Susan were great friends during their high school years. The Donners now live in TX but are in the area visiting family for Christmas, and they dropped Ethan off at our house for a play date in the morning and then met us for dinner at Taco John's (Suzanna's choice) around noon.

Our entire family had haircut appointments this afternoon: about 4.5 hours of hair cutting before we were all shorn! Before heading to the salon, we posed for this family pic in Taco John's.

Here is Suzanna with her new hairdo and her newly pierced ears! 12 years old?! Sheesh! What a beauty.

Here are Hillary and Abigail with their new hairdos. The stylist curled their hair for them, too--snazzy!

Here is Susan with her new hairdo. The stylist straightened Susan's hair for her.

Here I am with my new hairdo. Whatevs. Suzanna's ear piercing happened after our hair cuts, after which we went out for supper at Sanford's Grub and Pub, which serves a birthday celebrant a special treat for dessert: a gigantic chocolate chip cookie heaped with three enormous scoops of vanilla ice cream, one covered in strawberry sauce, another in caramel sauce, and the third in chocolate sauce, with the whole shebang topped with (canned) whipped cream and a maraschino cherry.

After supper, we went home and played games to give ourselves time to digest the sundae from Sanford's before . . . eating Suzanna's birthday cake! She requested a brownie cake, which Susan made on a round baking stone and frosted using my mom's wonderful chocolate frosting recipe. Sinfully irresistible.

Look how excited Suzanna is to be 12 years old! And to own her own digital camera! And to have pierced ears! And to have a family who loves her as much as we do!

Great Birthday

Although I spent my birthday yesterday at work, all in all it was a great day.

Thanks to my on-line presence, throughout the day I received electronic birthday greetings from a cousin (Rachelle K.), four Mobergs I don't know (Chris, Chris, Marcus, and Lars Henrik), two former coworkers (Wendy S.-P., Leif O.), two current coworkers (Steph S., Heather M.), four dear friends (Erin A., Darin K., Mishka K., Ruth T.), and a slug of former students (Cody B., Julie B., Kristina B., Nick B., Sara B., Seth B., Cory C., John D., Aaron E., Tony F., Ashley H., Matt H., Rikki H., Adam K., Herb K., Megan K., Mitch M., Nick M., Robert M., Dan N., Heidi P., Jeremy R., Brianna S., Eric S., Savannah S., Eric V., Haley V., Laura V., Luke V., Paul V., Heidi Z.).

That's in addition to e-mailed greetings from my two sisters (plus an "adult" e-card from Sandy) and e-cards from my wife (here and here and here and here) and three daughters (from Suzanna, from Abigail, and from Hillary) that kept me preoccupied all day long.

And at work, I received birthday wishes from the library staff as I passed through on my way to my office (how did they know? they didn't confess). Everybody I work with said "Happy birthday!" individually, but I also got a card from one of our student paraprofessionals on which she had put a photo of Mark-Paul Gosselaar (who played Zach on TV's Saved by the Bell) with the caption, "Those were the days" (the student paraprofessionals think I remind them of Zach). One of the library workers and a professor of choral music joined my coworkers in singing me "Happy Birthday" (the day before, my coworkers had sung to me "Old People," a silly-lyric version of the song "Short People"). I also got a "Happy birthday!" from the chair of the nursing department.

My coworker Josh gave me a framed photo of himself for my birthday (ha!); below his face, he wrote, "I'll miss you most of all, Scarecrow"--a line from a funny moment in the movie Top Secret that I once said to him instead of "goodbye," and which was so random to him that he still thinks it's the most hilarious thing I've ever said (so far, that is). He and everybody else in our unit took me out for dinner at noon at Applebee's, where I ordered off the Weight Watchers menu but then unhesitatingly ate the complimentary chocolate sundae that our server brought me for dessert.

My family took me out for supper at Sanford's, where I had a burger with bleu cheese and Buffalo sauce on it, served with onion rings. Yes, it did nothing for my weight watching (other than to help me watch the weight go back on), but it was health food compared to the complimentary birthday dessert I was served afterwards: a plate-sized chocolate chip cookie topped with three large scoops of vanilla ice cream--one covered with strawberries and strawberry sauce, the next with chocolate chips and chocolate syrup, and the third with butterscotch chips and butterscotch syrup, and all of it decorated with canned faux whipped cream and sprinkles. Susan and the girls helped me, but I consumed the majority of the dessert myself. (I'm sore afraid of stepping on the scale today.)

When we got home, it was time for gift opening. Each of my daughters had made me fancy birthday cards, some requiring multiple unfoldings, some with poetry, and each requiring some oral interpretation/performance on their part. Susan made me a lovely card, too, with a sweet, sincere message inside. The gifts included a fire pit (and logs) for our back yard, a grilling mitt and grilling baskets (to hold fish or vegetables that might otherwise slip through the grate of the grill itself), two dress shirts with matching ties, and a CD of the soundtrack to the movie Hairspray (which we plan to see tomorrow night on Abigail's birthday). Dad and Beverly gave me a lovely card, too, as well as an assortment of seven ties that I can wear with my dress shirts for work (in the card, Beverly wrote that this is a "tied-up" birthday--ha!). I got greetings cards, too, from both my sisters and from my in-laws Jerrett & Cheryl and Arron.

We sang some songs at the piano for a while, and then changed into our pajamas. We spent the rest of the night checking out the extras on the Hairspray DVD/CD set, listening to the songs from the sountrack, and dancing around the office (yes, we truly did dance around the office, all five of us). It was so great to spend the day with coworkers and family who care about me and to hear from so many others who feel the same. Thank you, everybody! I had a great birthday.

P.S. My coworker/friend Steph told me that more people have birthdays in August than in any other month. Whaddya make of that, faithful readers?

The ridiculously bad-for-you, sinfully delicious birthday dessert from Sanford's

Me unwrapping the fire pit

My girlies and I on the veranda

Modeling my new grilling mitt

A bouquet of ties from Dad and Beverly

Family music time at the piano

Birthday smooch from Suzanna

Birthday smooch from Abigail

Birthday smooch from Hillary . . .

. . . and another . . .

. . . and another . . .

. . . and another . . .

. . . and another! What a smoochy child. What a lucky dad!