Dad's 50th BIrthday

This year has been the year of big birthdays... Jon and I hit 30 and Dad followed by turning the big 5-0.  They had a Halloween themed birthday party for the occasion a weekend before Halloween weekend.  There was good food, good company, and good costumes.  We had fun going to New Orleans for the trip.

Danielle and Eric

Dad!

Dad and Cindy

Danielle

Elisha and Danny

Jon and I - You can't really see the badges, but we were Star Trek characters - Thought Dad would appreciate it!

July - Jon's 30th Birthday

Jon's turn to join me in my old age... :)  Again we gathered the friends for a night of fun chat and games. 

June - My 30th Birthday!

I really just can not believe that I have turned 30.  I still feel like I am 21!  Certainly something must be wrong with the date or year or something.  Luckily I don't feel old, so I don't think 30 is old.  I do remember when I thought 30 was old, but not so much anymore.  I must be growing up!

For my birthday, we had some friends over and just hung out, ate cake and had a good time.  Thanks for all who came!  Love ya!

My Birthday Cake!  Quirky - Like Me.

I think I look a little doubtful about blowing out so many candles!

Our Friends....

Jon's Birthday

Happy Happy Birthday


From All of Us to You


We Wish It Were Our Birthday


So We Could Party Too!

Welome to the Club... Glad you joined me in the realm of 29. :)

June 26th - The day the girl got older...

Once again that time of the year has arrived where I gain that magically extra number to the end of my age. +1. Really, it doesn't bother me so much. Or at least it doesn't at the moment. Maybe when I hit 30 or 35 or 40. I suppose part of that has to do with the fact that I don't actually feel any older. Though I have noticed a few things that have changed. For example, I like going to bed a little earlier. It is harder to go out dancing until 1 or 2 am and then go from there to Denny's or IHOP before heading home. Sometimes I just want to stay home and do nothing. I get up earlier, instead of at 11 or noon. And then there is work... I work all the time. So I suppose I am actually growing up! Perhaps some would even call me an adult now. Yikes! Oh, and the bills, I hate bills. Can't we just not have bills to pay?? That would be the best birthday gift ever! Oh well....

Realism sets in now. My birthday was a pleasant one. We had some friends over, had a pool party and then plays games afterwards. It is wonderful to be in the ward we are in. It was nice to get the house and back yard cleaned up, BBQ, hang out by the pool, and just really enjoy being with friends and family.

Last year was pretty good, we will see how this year goes.

The Birthday Party!

Birthday Week ended nice and neatly on Saturday, which happened to be Jon's actual birthday. Hence, the big 'finale' was his birthday party. We started planning forever ago (or so it feels like) and came up with a Mario Party theme. Yes, my friends, we went old school, back to the days of Nintendo and game boys. Super Mario Brothers, Mario Party, Mario Kart, anything Mario.


Jon and I worked through out the week to get everything set up. It was great. We had people dress up or just wear any Mario themed top. We had a few friends pop up from Wellington, which was great, since we haven't seen them in about 4 months!


The cake was fun. If you people remember the mushrooms in the games, you will totally get the cake! ... and if not, well then, the green cake is the "1-up" mushroom. This mushroom gave you an extra life if you were lucky enough to catch up with it. The red mushroom is the mushroom that makes little Mario grow into a big Mario - not to be confused with the mega mushroom in later games. We also made star cookies and had other snacky food for the party.




Decorating was fun. Many walls of the house were turned into Mario scenes, and what topped everything was the participation by those who came to the party.



Des and Charles came dressed as a princess and Mario. It was great!



Nerina and Tiffany were princess Peach and Princess Daisy.



Melissa and Elanor did their research to find other Mario characters that were female. I forget the names of the girls they were, but they have the photo of the girls held up in the picture. It was their 'proof' that their characters were real!



Ben, Jon's brother, dressed up as Mario as well. The photo below has Ben, Jon, and Charles in it.





The rest of us came in either Mario tee shirts or just came. But we all had fun.


Mario Party and Mario Kart was played throughout the party, never with the same players for a full game.


All in all the party was a great success.

Birthday Week: Up to the Final Party

After watching an episode of Gilmore Girls, Jon and I decided to adopt the Gilmore Girl way of celebrating birthdays. Why should you only celebrate your birthday one day out of the year? It should be a whole week! The fun of getting yet one more year older, the excitement of being just that much wiser, and basically, since you can't do anything about getting older, you may as well party away.

Day 1: Bowling

Neither Jon or I had been bowling in quiet a long time. The last trip was in Wellington, where the scores were nothing to brag about, but was fun. (Mostly very entertaining because of one girl who was not really trying to play, but was getting strikes and spares like nothing else! I've never seen anything like it... It was so funny!)

So Monday night we headed out to the local bowling alley with Jon's two brothers and his father. Anton kicked all of our butts, but we all had a good time. Certainly none of us are thinking of going professional.

Just before leaving there was a small round of air hockey, which brought back good old memories for me. I remember playing air hockey at the roller skating rink all the time. Good times, good times....

Day 2: Movie night - The Italian Job

Movie night was great. We bought the Italian Job on the weekend before, because the movie times did not agree with our schedule. However, we made the most of it. We ordered pizza, had snacks, and just enjoyed an in home cinema night.

Jon had seen the Italian Job before, but it was my first time. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie though. It had a good pace to the movie, even if you could predict some of what would happen.

For a side note, pizza was ordered from Hell Pizza, which I think is probably the best pizza in New Zealand. (Perhaps it does not compare to some small one off Italian place but it is certain very good.) For any non New Zealanders, check out the website for some fun. http://www.hell.co.nz/ The website has little devils with pitchforks that run across the bottom of the screen and you can pick them up with the mouse and throw them around, etc. So much fun. And seriously, great pizza. I wish we had one back at home.\

Day 3: Dinner Out - That became Dinner In

We were supposed to have dinner out this night, but the weather was a bit nasty. So we went out for food, but brought it back home for eating. Burger Wisconsin was on the menu this night. Good burgers and good wedge fries. Yum!

Day 4 & 5: Ok, well I will admit, we didn't do much special for these nights other than work on everything for the party on Saturday. We made decorations, goofed off, and had a good time despite not having specifics. Technically, Day 4 would have been Institute, but there were a lack of students, so it got cancelled.

The week was fun though... I think we will try to keep this tradition up...