75

Grandma Jean celebrated her 75th birthday this past Wednesday.  We decided that since it was her 75th we should party!  We planned a small family dinner for everyone on Saturday, so that everyone could come.  Rachelle and I baked and decorated a yummy gluten free chocolate cake and we put together decorations: balloons strung together and cute tissue paper puffs (ideas that she had found on pinterest).  I should add that Miss Addi helped quite a bit too.  She especially enjoyed when I would pipe the frosting straight into her mouth =)  Most everyone showed up for the party except for a few that live out of town.  We had a yummy little dinner of BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, yummy potatoes, 7-layer bean dip and chips, and veggies.  After filling up Alan and Leslie decided it was time for them to head back to Cedar City so we gave Grandma her gift.  We had all pitched in to get her a new Kindle fire.  She was SO excited!!!  Carissa had been nice enough to get a bunch of games and books loaded onto it so it was ready to go right out of the box, which was good because Grandma couldn't wait to get her hands on it.  She was grinning from ear to ear like a little kid.  We all got a kick out of that.  Grandma made the comment that she should keep visiting with us but she just couldn't help herself.  She was too into her new toy to notice she had a full house.  Rachelle and I got the cake lit and walked it into her while singing Happy Birthday.  Grandma sat her kindle down long enough to blow out that candles and that was that.  She multi tasked the rest of the night, playing her game with one hand and eating her cake with the other.  It was great!  I'm glad we were able to all get together and celebrate and give Grandma a happy day.  Happy Birthday Grandma!!!

My first attempt at cake decorating!

Welcome 2012!

This year we had a very low key new years eve.  To start off our night we headed out to Lisa's County Kitchen for dinner with Annette, Chris, Danielle and the kids.  We had a great time visiting and enjoying some darn good food.  Afterwards, Annette headed home and the rest of us headed to Reed's for some ice cream.  We visited for another 30 minutes or so and then went our separate ways.  Chad & I headed up to Grandma Jean's to check out the party there.  Imagine our surprise when we walked in to a quiet house.  Everyone was busy doing a puzzle and playing on their electronics (an ipad, kindle fire and 3 ipod touch).  Things have definitely changed.  We loaded up on snacks until we were about ready to explode (I hate that about the holidays, we always eat way too much) and then headed home to call it a night.  We were home by 10 pm.  We built a cozy fire, snuggled up on the couch and watched a movie.  Surprisingly we were both still awake when 12 am came and went.  It was a great night and we really enjoyed it.  We have a couple of resolutions to make, and they all seem simple enough so hopefully we'll be able to keep them.  Happy 2012!