The last in a week of birthdays...

 Today, I got to celebrate my 33rd birthday with my family. For parents, grandparents and friends who are interested in the details of the day, read on... For the other two or three of you...we're not that interesting, so you may not want to bother...  :-) That said, I was thoroughly spoiled... I managed to tweak my back again bowling last night, so I figured I had an excuse to move slowly this morning, take a very long shower, snuggle up and finish a book, and take my time getting ready. My hub took half a day off work to celebrate with his girls...and he also took his time getting to work this morning--which worked out perfectly. Our birthday date began when he got home. These have been sitting on the hope chest in the living room for the last two days tormenting me... 

Well, not really.  I'm terrible with surprises...  And I'm extremely good at figuring out surprises...almost too good.   My family on the other hand loves surprises...  And they also love wrapping very tiny gifts in very elaborate packages to make the experience last.  I, on the other hand, am terrible at keeping surprises, and would rather hurl many gifts at a person in the form of a single box packed "treasure chest style".  It's toooo paaaainful to wait for them to open several packages!  It's so fun to appreciate how different people enjoy loving and giving. So, here I am with many of my small (and not-so-small) treasures from the day: 

After gifts, we headed to Rochester and my husband let me indulge in browsing a couple furniture stores.

Hey, it never hurts to dream...  ;-)

A distinguished gentleman was trying out this couch:



And then a sweet little girl joined him: 

 She decided she felt quite at home on this couch: 

And you maybe can't tell from this picture, but somewhere under all those pillows, she had actually buried her father:

And there's not much more to that story.  There weren't any couches that inspired me.  Well...there were...but they were around $3000.  So, no couch for my birthday.   (It's okay.  I'll get over it.) Our intention was to go to HuHot for supper. Good grief...  You'd think we could bring ourselves to do something out of the ordinary for a birthday, wouldn't you? Well, we ended up at Noodles... 

Yes, we are that boring. We just weren't in a buffet mood. But since it was my birthday, we went all out... We ordered our meals:   and bread: 

and even potstickers:

We were stuffed.

 Then, my family let me browse upholstery at a couple of fabric stores: 

I told you I was spoiled.

 Wow.  Lots of beautiful fabrics to choose from.  I might just get up the courage to try upholstery one of these days. (And this might just be the last time that I visit JoAnn Fabrics in Rochester.  But it's my birthday, so we'll keep this blog post pleasant...) I figured after enduring fabric stores, my hubby deserved a few minutes to dream... So, we walked around at Menard's where he checked for sales on landscaping materials. Mike and I usually forego birthday cake and ice cream on our birthdays, but we did have an early supper, so we decided to stop by Panera for dessert. 

Their orange scones are amazing by the way. And that, my friends and family, is the story of my birthday.

Birthday week...

Today...

We 3 Amundsons:

spent the day celebrating this guy:

Mike and I have birthdays 5 days apart.

Sometimes, we use it as an excuse to celebrate all week long.

Last year, we were in Oklahoma on Mike's birthday.

Not such big plans this year.  We've already been shopping and celebrating for a few days...so we decided to take it easy today.

But, after church, Mike did enjoy a free bowl of Noodles for his birthday...

Do you want one on your birthday?

Follow this link and sign up!

Free NOODLES: 

After lunch, we stopped by Trader Joe's where Mike got to pick his birthday supper...

(chicken and veggie brats, barbeque chips...and 70% dark chocolate)

And then we visited Grandma--because she needs her Sunday cookie.

We came home and Mike opened a few cards and gifts:

And got a call from Sam ...

(who needed a favor and had no clue it was his birthday)

So, Mike is officially 34 years old.

ScAnDaLoUs.......  I know...

And for the next 5 days, I get to enjoy being 2 years younger than he is.

And then, on Friday, we'll be celebrating again...only this time, it's me that will be a year older...

Yeah, it's distressing.

So, Mike's asking for that birthday supper...time to fire up the grill...

Then, we shall examine some pond water under the microscope...

...and I suspect there may be some bowling in our basement tonight, too...

So that's the latest birthday update...

And that's all for now! 

90 years...

Yesterday, we ventured off to Wisconsin to celebrate Mike's Grandma's 90th Birthday: 

This lady amazes me! She lives independently in a beautiful townhome... still drives around in a little red sports car... is still busy with church groups... and has an active social life.  I didn't have any living grandparents, so when Mike and I were married, I was very thankful to inherit two beautiful Grandmothers, and we are so glad that Beth has been able to know and love two great-grandmothers.   Grandma has already been celebrating her birthday with friends and family for 2 weeks when yesterday's party rolled around.  She decided that if this is what it's like to turn 90, she'll do it every year! One of the highlights of the day was meeting the most recent addition to the family, baby Lucy: 

 

 Beth adored her and had so much fun getting acquainted with her:  

 There was a beautiful cake... 

Mmm...

And lots of gifts...

And we always attempt some group pictures...

Here's Grandma with all of her grandchildren by birth and marriage (except the baby who was napping):

And here's our attempt at getting everyone (except one missing family member) in a single picture: 

Grandma has always dreamed of getting a complete family picture--but someone is always missing.  Maybe someday, Grandma--you keep trying! And I'll leave you with my favorite picture from the day: 

I'm not biased, of course...  ;-)

Beth Marie's 9th Birthday

On October 15th, our baby turned 9 years old!  Hard to believe it's been 9 years since we first laid eyes on our darling daughter.  She's growing up to be such a beautiful little person.   

Beth Marie, at 9 years old, you are turning into such a wonderful little lady.  You are a delightful companion for your Mommy--I love having a little girl to share my days with.  Your birthday was such a fun day for our family to celebrate 9 amazing years with you!  You are such a treasure...

 Mmm...  Pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting and caramel drizzle. 

We usually party with the cousins on Beth's birthday, but this year they all had the chicken pox.  Beth was very exposed before her birthday, so we were thankful to have a healthy girl to celebrate with!  We decided to take the whole day to go up to the Cities as a family.  Here's our pretty birthday girl in front of the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis.  We would highly recommend this place!  This is the sort of thing we love to do on our vacation time--explore a fun place while learning a little history.

Here, Beth Marie is overlooking the burned-out Mill.

Beth and Mom at the Mill City Museum.

Daddy and his girl at the Mill Museum (overlooking St. Anthony falls)

Mill Ruins Park (Stage 1).  This was such a cool place to walk around.  It makes your imagination go wild to think about what all of this was like 100 years ago.

Ruins...

The ruins has sidewalks where you could stroll--and for anyone who's interested in photography, this area would have no end of potential!

The burned-out remains of what was once the world's largest flour mill.

The Stone Arch Bridge and Mississippi riverfront.

Mike snapped this picture quick on our walk back to the car.  Cool, huh?  :-)

After our time on the historic riverfront, where else would we go but the Mall of America?  And where would a little girl want to go at Mall of America?  The American Girl store, of course.  Here is Beth proudly displaying her purchase--a set of doll crutches and a cast.  Well, you can't see the contents of the package in this picture.  But, we all know that it makes no difference what's in the bag...  However small of a trinket it may be, the greatest thrill is getting a bag that says, "American Girl" and walking around the mall with it.  :-)

To complete the day Mike and Elizabeth rode this contraption.  I'm not sure what it's called, but I think we all recognize it.  It's the one that blasts you 30 feet or so into the air and then plummets you back to the ground...repeatedly.  I'm not sure why you would want to pay money to give your guts a beating, but they found it enjoyable from what I could tell.  Thankfully, they did this before supper at Ruby Tuesday's.  A great day was had by all.  We love you, Beth Marie!!