Happy Birthday Smiles

All of my smiles today are extra special….

…. Because they are Happy Birthday smiles for our dear daughter

Melinda….. or Mindy…. as everyone calls her.

No parents ever had a dearer daughter than our Mindy.

Mindy is beautiful inside and out.

She is truly a rose in the garden of my life.

It was fun planning a birthday dinner for her…. She is easy to please and would have been happy with anything but I wanted to do something special for her. Our menu was…..

Appetizer- Chicken teriyaki lettuce wraps

Strawberry Jell-O cups and fresh pineapple

Grilled Rib eye steaks

Baked potatoes and corn on the cob

Home made rolls and strawberry jam

Grampy’s special guava juice frosty

Birthday cake and ice cream

It was yummy and enjoyed by all.

It was just a small family gathering….. but there was lots of love.

Each child had picked out cards and gifts for their sweet mom….with some help from their dad….

  Mindy loved each one.

She couldn’t think of anything John and I could give her. She needs a new purse and new exercise shoes but she wanted to pick those out herself…. so we gave her a new wallet with some cash.  It was a small package but I wrapped it up 10 times so it took her a while to get it unwrapped.

Our birthday evening ended with us singing happy birthday and Mindy trying to blow out the candles before the kids did. You may have noticed that this is not the same cake as in the first picture. I got her a chocolate fudge cake and Ernie got her a Cold Stone ice cream cake. We decided to eat the ice cream cake and save the fudge cake until later..(unless I eat it first)

I had so much fun planning for Mindy’s birthday this past week. It is wonderful that she lives near by, unlike our other children,  and we can be with her on her birthday.

She is a wonderful daughter….wife…. mother….sister…. person… daughter of God.

She is smart, hard working, loving, religious and kind.

It took Mindy 9 years of trying to get pregnant before she was blessed with her first child. During that difficult time she kept herself busy getting 2 bachelor degrees and a masters degree. She works as a speech therapist helping and teaching children at the same school her little ones attend. That way the kids get to go to school/work with her each day. It is a great arrangement for them.

HAPPY BIRTDAY DEAR DAUGHTER

YOU FILL MY HEART WITH SMILES

I hope that all of you blog friends have had a good week too.

Many hugs, Grammy Lura

 

Sunday six and birthday smiles

It has been a busy and fun week for us..... just crammed full of smiles.
#1 Today is my baby girl's birthday.

Erin may be a wonderful wife and a mother, but she will always be
my precious baby girl. We love you dear.... more than words can say.
Have a great day. I wish we were there with you.
...
#2 Cal is walking and loving it.
Doesn't this picture make you smile.
#3 We kept Mindy's kids last week while Mindy and Ernie took a little holiday.

#4. We started out our week with a trip to Knott's Berry Farm.
The weather was mild and we had a great day there.

In fact we were jumping for joy.
...
#5. The lines were short

and we could go on the roller coasters as many times as we wanted to.

Now wouldn't that make you smile???

Our only break from the rides was our stop for dinner

at the Old West Cafe where we all shared the big family bowl of soup

and family sized nachos. We do this every time we go to Knotts.

What a fun tradition.
...

The other days we spent hours in the pool, playing games, watching videos and

having fun.

When Lynell's family visit us from Utah we have a tradition

of having homemade ice cream and cinnamon toast for breakfast

on their last morning here with us.

E.J., Claire and Austin thought they should get the same treats
for breakfast on their last morning at Grammy and Grampy's house....
...so we did.
Smile...smile...smile
...
#6. Our Young Women at church make me smile.

These 5 girls shown with our YW president are our YCLs...
Our Youth Camp Leaders.
They have put in hours of work getting everything ready

for all of our girls to go to church camp this coming week.
I am thankful for these sweet girls and their adult leaders.
They make me smile.
...
These are my smiles for this week.
What are you smiling about?

I hope you have a great week.

I can't wait for Marie to get home and tell us about her trip.

Hugs, Lura