Faith's Monumental Visit to South Dakota

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When I received my niece, Sydnee's graduation announcement in the mail, I thought it might be the perfect opportunity to visit my brother and his family for the first time at their home in Spearfish. I also thought it would be the perfect opportunity to see Mount Rushmore, which I had never seen before!  My nephew in Nebraska was graduating that same weekend, and my sister Dawn and I tried to put together a plan where we could go to both of their graduation receptions. I knew though, that Faith would feel left out and would want to go, too. I also knew it was going to be difficult to find someone to look after Faith over Memorial Day weekend.  Our finalized plan involved Dawn traveling to South Dakota with me and Faith and then her flying to Nebraska by herself. Faith and I would then drive back to Bismarck by ourselves.  3 adventurous travelers  I must admit, as the trip got closer, I started to get a little anxious about how Faith was going to do with so much drivi...
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Birthday Fun!

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In my immediate family, my birthday in early February used to kick off the birthday season which would last through May. That's seven birthdays we celebrated in just a four-month time span! By the time we got to my mom's birthday, she was so tired of eating cake that she often opted not to have one. 

Now that we have a larger family with in-laws, nieces, nephews, and significant others, there are many more birthdays to celebrate, all throughout the year. For those of us who live here in Bismarck, we have a great time getting together (usually at Mom and Dad's) to celebrate. 

It's kind of funny because after we get done celebrating a birthday, Faith will ask, "Who's birthday is next, Mom?"

Unfortunately, this year on my birthday, I wasn't feeling the best, but it was still fun to get together with family. One of the reasons I still wanted to go ahead with the party was because Faith had been looking so forward to it.

I'll be the first to admit, I don't do a beard very well!
The three of us celebrating my special day!
My sister Dawn and I

When my parents first moved here, Faith wasn't too gung-ho about going to their place for any type of celebration or holiday. Over the past couple of years, however, she has gotten to thoroughly enjoy our family get-togethers. I think it's because pretty much the same people show up every time so she's getting to know everyone better.

Faith helping her cousin, Justine celebrate her birthday
Faith LOVES it when baby Marla comes to the party!

Despite the fact her dad didn't want to have a party, she wanted to have a surprise party for him anyway. Well, Faith's version of a surprise party is different than most people's. On his birthday, Rob was out running errands so Faith wanted to decorate the apartment for him. We hung up red and blue streamers along with some balloons. Then she wanted us to "hide" and yell surprise when Rob came through the door.

When I saw him in the parking lot, I covered her up with a blanket (she was laying on the couch) and I hid behind the loveseat. I found out later it wasn't the best hiding spot because Rob looked up and saw me through the window, which is right behind the loveseat!

When Rob got to the door, Faith was giggling and laughing (she would never be able to hide from someone for real). Then, when he opened the door we both yelled, "SURPRISE!" And that was her idea of a surprise party, which was perfectly fine with Rob! 

The surprise we did manage to pull off was a "sushi cake." Faith's favorite part of a birthday party is blowing out the candles and since Rob didn't want a cake, I had to find something to put birthday candles in. It turned out quite well!

Rob's sushi cake!
The inside of the birthday card Faith made (with help from Janie)

The next birthday on the calendar was Grandpa's. He wasn't having a party, but Faith still wanted to go to Grandma's. She told Faith that Grandpa would probably like to see her on his birthday, which of course turned into him having a party (although a very small one but complete with homemade pizza, burgers, chicken, cupcakes, and ice cream!)

Faith and Grandpa
I LOVE this photo of me, my daughter, and my dad!
Thanks Dad and Mom for hosting such fun birthday parties!

Even though Faith only has one birthday a year, 
celebrating other people's special day has become just as fun!

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