Birthday Celebrations

Again this year, Trent and I got to celebrate our birthdays with each of our families. Trent celebrated his 33rd birthday and it was my 27th! On the 3rd of July, we arrived at my mom's house and had an awesome supper with some of my favorite things: Grandma's Ham Ball, Macaroni and Corn Cassarole, Oreo Salad!!

After supper, everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to us, we had cake and ice cream and, of course, we played some games!

The games of choice this time included naming all of the President in order, naming all of the NFL teams, and naming all 99 counties in Iowa. You know, fun stuff! :)

We took a little break on the 4th to head to Manilla to celebrate America's birthday. We watched the parade and spent some time with Grandma Jons before heading back to Omaha to hang out with our neighbors and watch the all the fireworks in the area.

We continued our birthday celebration weekend on Saturday when Trent's family joined us in Omaha to celebrate Trent and I's birthdays along with Trent's mom and sister who also have birthdays in the same week as us!

We all met at my work so everyone could see where I work. I gave them a tour of some of the public and shared areas of the building and then took them up to see where my group sits and where I spend a lot of my time! It was fun to have them there and the girls each colored/wrote a note for me to hang at my desk, and I love having that reminder of them hanging right above my computer monitor!

After we left my work, we grabbed a bite to eat downtown and took the girls to the big slides in the Gene Leahy Mall. They got to go down it a few times, but they couldn't go all the way down the end due to it being a little flooded at the base of the slides, but I think they still enjoyed it!

We then made a stop at the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge where we walked across the bridge and the girls got to straddle the Iowa-Nebraska state line and play in the splash pad for a little bit.

Our last stop for the day was at Lauritzen Gardens. We rode the tram around the park, getting off briefly to look at the train display. I think by this point, we were all happy to just sit around for a while and enjoy the views!

When we all got back to our house, everyone pitched in with preparing for supper. We had jalapeno poppers, broccoli and cauliflower salad, lots of different fruit, lettuce salad, and steak and chicken kabobs, among other things.

Then it was time to open presents. Of course, everyone got spoiled again with some very useful and thoughtful gifts!

Trent and I got adorable home made cards from the girls. I love mine so much!!

Trent's card from Taylor reads, "Trent. I Love you and I hope your Brthday is az spethl as you. Happe BrthDay."
I love it!!

And last, but certainly not least, we had cake and ice cream. Each of the of the birthday people got to pick out what cake they wanted once again this year. I picked chocolate cake with chocolate icing made by Melodie, Jan picked Carrot Cake with cream cheese frosting made by me, Trent picked Lemon Cake made by his mom, and Melodie picked homemade ice cream made by Trent! Of course, everyone had to have the sampler platter with some of each kind, and they were all amazing. 

To end the night, we sat around the fire in the back yard and lit off a few fireworks and sparklers. It was a beautiful evening and a great way to round out a very fun and busy birthday weekend!