Sarah's Dad's Birthday....

Yesterday evening (Sunday), we headed to my parents' house in Andover (KS) to celebrate my (Sarah) dad's 61st birthday. His birthday actually isn't until Friday, the 20th, but this particular weekend worked best for us all to get together.

Admittedly, this won't be the most exciting blog post because of my lack of photos. For some reason, I didn't get too many. But fortunately, my sister-in-law, Amber, got a few to share.

But, contrary to my previous paragraph, I don't want to make it sound like it wasn't fun or exciting last night...My Dad's birthday was certainly worth celebrating.

So, as part of my family's tradition -- the birthday person (in this case, my dad) gets to choose the meal. My dad chose grilled steak (which he actually grilled himself), broccoli salad, strawberry whip, au gratin potatoes, bread, grapes (for the kids, mainly), and my mom's famous (and quite YUMMY) German Chocolate Cake for dessert.



Because the weather suddenly turned MUCH cooler (of which we are VERY grateful), quite a bit of time was spent outside -- at least by the kids and the guys. My mom and I mainly spent time inside, talking and holding Maddie (our new niece).

My dad, my brother (Joel), and Marc really enjoy shooting their identical BB guns in the backyard. I'm not even sure what all they usually shoot, but last night, I know it was pop cans.

Luke was out there, but I fully trust the guys to make sure he stays out of the way. Also outside were our two other nieces, Grace and Natalie (Maddie's older sister).

I think Luke just really enjoys watching the guys and their activities.





And, my new favorite photo of my dad -- with three of the four of his grandchildren....



After my dad opened his present, it was getting quite late. We decided to head home. Unfortunately, Marc and I stretched it a little too far with Luke being up past his bedtime. The first half of our trip home wasn't very pleasant. Luke cried and cried and threw a fit in his carseat. Ultimately, I think he was so tired, and he just wanted to be held by me. But, safety dictated that I didn't do that.

The whole scenario ended when Marc finally pulled off the highway and went around to Luke's seat. There was some much needed sternness involved toward Luke. From that point on, Luke didn't cry; however, there was still quite a bit of sniffling the rest of the way home.

By the time we got home, all was forgiven. And, our little guy was VERY sweet in my arms as I rocked him a bit before bed. Luke ended up not sleeping in extremely late this morning, but he more than made up for lack of sleep with a VERY long nap this afternoon.