Once upon a time, I turned 33 years old (And Jeannie turned 40!)

My birthday is January 26th but the celebrating got started a little earlier in January. My 2 sister-in-laws also have birthdays in January and SIL Jeannie was turning 40 and wanted me to attend her 40th birthday party and spend a few days visiting and "hanging out" with her and her family. I am so glad I was able to make it work out with the help of a dear friend and a wonderful husband and sister and friends who helped take care of the big kids. It was quite a treat to travel with just me and Kate - we had the best time - she really is my little buddy.

I learned how to make these Killer Brownies. (this is my photo of the brownies I made a couple weeks after returning - every bit as good as I remember!) Jeannie greeted me when I got in around midnight with a pan of these monsters and we sat up laughing and eating brownies for hours. No wonder I still have a few pounds of baby weight to lose - I keep eating stuff like this!

What did we do when I was there? We had a little outing to Costco, of course! Living in the South is just not like living here - where it takes Jeannie 20 minutes to get to Wal-Mart, I can get to 5 Wal-Marts in 20 minutes! Where Costco is 30 minutes away, I can get to 3, maybe 4 Costcos in 30 minutes! Jeannie is always talking about Mr. Yoshida's Teriyaki marinade that was used at my wedding 11 years ago and I always say I will bring her some because she cannot buy it where she lives. Well, the day I was leaving I was at Costco and grabbed a 1/2 gallon size jug for her only to realize they would never let me carry that thing on! It may be mistaken for Teriyaki bomb sauce or something. So, I took her shopping to Costco (HER FIRST TIME!!!!) and bought her a jug of sauce as a "birthday gift" because that is just the kind of SIL I am!!! Jeannie is now a proud member of Costco - way to go Jeannie!


Out for a day of shopping - it was bitterly cold (like 28 degrees or something) and Jeannie hated it but cold like this is such a novelty to me anymore so I just enjoyed it while I could. Much to her chagrin, I kept wanting to shop! I think she thought I was nutso!

This is Everett, aka Bobby. He was dying complaining of needing a haircut (he has awesome curly dark red hair and I think he likes it short!) but one late night I was straigtening Kayleigh's hair and we decided to take the flat iron to Everett's hair. We thought it looked a little Edward when it was all straightened - it was kinda fun and funny! Everett, thanks for sleeping on your sister's floor and letting me crash in your bedroom!

Saturday I got to attend Miss Basketball's (Kayleigh's) game - she had quite the cheering section with both sets of Grandparents and assorted Aunts and Uncles and cousins cheering her on - I loved being there to support cute Kayleigh and her team.

The ladies out to dinner for Jeannie's birthday. From left: me, our mother in Law Shirley 9came from SC for the party weekend), Jeannie, Jeannie's mom Penny, and sisters Quincy and Nikki. I think the men were annoyed with all the picture taking at this point. They were off to the side holding bags and purses and cameras and coats. We were so disappointed that Barbara, our sister in law, Steve and Brad's sister, was unable to make it like planned. Barbara - you were missed.

Jeannie's sister Nikki was my date for the dinner. Thanks Nikki! I had a great time! ;)

Kate thought these M&M's were pretty tempting. Good thing she was still a pre-crawler!

I had such a fantastic time in Atlanta - we didn't do a whole lot of special stuff - stayed up late talking, watching TV, playing games, playing with the babies, chasing Cozette, that sort of thing. Jeannie's family is wonderful and I told her parents I would be another daughter in their family in a heartbeat.

Monday the 26th of January (my actual birthday) was kind of a rough day. I was still in shock and pretty devastated about my Cousin Neil's accident 2 days previous. We had not made any big celebratory plans (since my birthday gift had really been the trip to Atlanta) but the girls wanted to make it a special night and planned a birthday dinner all by themselves. They picked an outfit for me to wear and set up our small patio table for dinner with candles and our favorite party dishes. The menu included: Chicken Nuggets, yogurt, oranges, left over bean dip and chips, sparkling cider (we happened to have a bottle in the fridge) and dessert would be s'mores over the fire. They made name tags for the chairs and I got to sit and be served by the most attentive wait staff ever! They even made a kids menu and brought out a bucket of crayons for Kate. They thought of everything!!! Really, that day there was a huge hole in my heart (and I actually spent that night setting up Neil's update blog for my Aunt Lori) but my girls made me feel so special and I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Here's a close-up of that fabulous dinner!

Me and my girlies - some pretty chic party planners!

My trip to Atlanta and my sweet girls making me a special birthday dinner - I spent the month with people I love the most and that is what matters most!