We have many birthdays to celebrate in the spring!
It all started in March with-
big brother Billy,
and Jenny's 16th!
In April we have
grand daughter Emily's 7th,
Jakes 14th,
Anna's 15th,
brother in love Andrew,
and big bro Mark
Onto May,
sister in love, Kari,
Ben's 15th,
Grace's 13th,
my 29th bday (;-)
and
Mary's 13th!
Sarah's birthday is in the spring, too.
We thought of her and prayed for her on her special day.
That's 13 Birthdays!
Birthdays at our house
are a high caloric event!
We don't hold back!
We eat healthy most of the time
but when it comes to birthdays
we enjoy ourselves
Up first is Jennifer!
No more Jenny...
it's only Jennifer, now!
Our kids LOVE celebrating their birthdays!
Although they are now mentioning their age...
How can they be that old...
and time is going by much toooo fast...
Even Teddi the baby BerneDoodle is pointing to Jennifer!
White Birkenstocks for the summer!
and... a slightly nerdish gift...
a calculator for Algebra 1!
Jennifer chose oreo cookie cheesecake!
The love lighting the candles!
Happy 16th Birthday to our beautiful daughter!
She is so good natured
and is always making us laugh
with the funny things she says!
Our oldest grand daughter Emily turned 7 the very next day!
She celebrated with her family in Virginia!
Next year she will be celebrating her birthday with us!
WoooooHoooooo!
Jake share's his birthday with Emily!
Jake turned 14!
It's hard to believe, he is already 14...
He is still a kids at heart!
Presents are sooooooo fun to get!
Jake chose a DQ cookies and cream ice cream cake!
In the morning the birthday child goes with Dad
to get donuts and a special drink of their choice
from Starbucks or Caribou!
Next up is Anna!
The next day after Jake's bday is her bday!
Anna turned 15 yrs old
and she LOVES her birthday!
You can see her positive energy!
Presents ROCK!
And so do puppies!
Anna chose Baker Square pies for her birthday!
French Silk, Lemon Meringue and Strawberry Rhubarb
Pie is a great break from the usual birthday cake!
In China they did not celebrate birthdays.
The kids really didn't even know how old they were.
Sometimes a caregiver would tell them
but oftentimes they would add an extra year onto the age.
Not sure why but they were considered one year old when they were born?
We love to hang out and visit in the evening!
After Anna's birthday was-
Andrew's
Mark's
and
Kari's!
Next up, here at home
was Ben!
It was a beautiful day
so we opened gifts outside!
Yep!
The algebra calculator!
A watch, swim shoes to protect his feet when he is swimming and more!
Grace and Ben have to wear swim shoes.
They cannot feel the bottoms of their feet,
so we want to protect them from
burning the feet on the hot cement or
cutting them on the rough bottom of the pool.
A timer for chess and a travel chessboard!
Sam and Ben are really into chess!
They took a class on it and are quite good!
Ben chose a snicker cheese cake!
It was super good!
Happy 15th Birthday Ben!
The kids pick out the dinner for the evening!
Ben had ribs and all the fixings to go with it!
And after dinner we watched a marvel movie!
We celebrated with the big kids on the Sunday before my birthday!
It was so much FUN!
Thankful for their love, kindness and support!
And next it was our turn!
Grace and Mom!
It was a beautiful day outside!
Grace had her special drink from Caribou and an Oreo donut!
Plus, we bring donuts home for everyone!
After BKF, hubby and I took a nice walk!
We stopped at 3 miles because it was quite warm outside.
And then the celebration began!
Grace is such a blessing!
We took turns opening our gifts!
Grace is so happy to be
a full fledged
teenager!
She chose red velvet cake and I chose chocolate fudge!
Happy Birthday to us!
This is Grace blowing out her candles...
AND, my hubby ready to snap a not so complementary
photo of me with me cheeks all puffed out...
So I'm letting him know that he cannot do that...
and by doing that I got even a worse pic taken of me...
And Grace is trying to hold back from laughing
while still blowing out her candles...
We went to our favorite Chinese Restaurant for dinner!
The kids were all so kind and generous!
I got some wonderful gift cards to
Starbucks, Panera, and Cheesecake Factory!
Mia and Melissa gave me a gift, beautiful smelling soaps!
So thankful for our amazing children!
Our last spring birthday belongs to Mary!
Only 2 days after Grace's 13th bday,
Mary joined her as an official teenager!
The weather did not cooperate
so we were stuck in the house...
until we decided...
let's go out for LUNCH!
So we went to the Panera near our house...
and low and behold,
they didn't have soup...
so we went to Chipotle
and they recently made the corporate decision
to only allow orders online...
I had never done that before....
and 15 individual orders felt overwhelming to this Mama...
so we went to another Panera,
where there was a big huge line...
and there we ate!
It was worth the wait!
Delicious soup on a cold rainy day was perfect!
This sweet girl is a pure white golden doodle...
She had a bath just a couple days ago...
I'm telling the truth!
Honest!
While we were at Panera, I had earned enough points for a pastry!
I chose my very favorite, a kitchen sink cookie!
I hid it in my purse for the next day!
Well, this little girl is getting bigger...
she jumped up on my desk and
took the FREE Kitchen Sink cookie out of my purse
and ATE IT, along with the wrapper around it...
Because there is chocolate in it,
we were concerned and took her to the vet.
$100 later and 2 hours later she came home...
she was just fine...
I guess that cookie wasn't so free after all...
Mary has the best attitude!
She just rolls with it
and laughs at the irony of it all!
Happy 13th Birthday dear Mary!
You are officially a teenager!
You and 12 other siblings!
YIKES!
(Run for the hills!)
She loved her gifts!
And her new hobby is coloring by numbers!
Along with riding her bike, listening to music, reading and
jumping on the trampoline!
Home 2 years and doing so well!
Grateful, Thankful, Blessed
Many of the older kids are getting busy and some are working!
So, not everyone can be at everything.
We just continue to celebrate
throughout the day
and they get a piece of cake
when they get home!
At this moment,
everybody is singing...
Honestly, we don't have the best voices...
But we make up for it
with
enthusiasm!
Love the look on her face as she
thinks of her birthday wish!
Look at the huge dimple of hers!
Love it!
