Tara’s Birthday Party

What an amazing husband I have. He planned a truly amazing and unique party for my to celebrate my 34th birthday. Our afternoon started at St. Croix vineyard where we were treated to a tour of the vineyard. St. Criox Vineyard is co-located at one of those Stillwater classics: Aamodt’s Apple Orchard. I was lucky enough to take a tour with Emma and her pre-school class of the orchard, so it was fun to see the vineyard side.

All 3 kiddos were with us and it was very hot out, so given the circumstances, the kids were really well behaved.

Emma was the resident photographer and she took a lot of interesting photos…especially before I told her to look through the viewfinder to see what she was photographing.

After the tour, we did the wine tasting which was really yummy. I love their wine. It’s all great. Who knew there could be such great wine right up the street! We finished our afternoon at the vineyard with a few bottles of wine in the orchards.

After our wine adventure we headed home where 2 great chefs were preparing an amazing meal for us. How cool is it to have a private chef cook dinner at your home.

It was so, so yummy!! The dinner was ribs, jicama salad, chipotle potato salad, fruit, veggies, cheese and crackers. Everything exceeded our expectations. The food was yummmmmmy!

We were also treated to an amazing chocolate torte for dessert. It was so pretty it didn’t seem we should eat it…that thought passed quickly. Everyone enjoyed the amazing dessert.

What a fun and unique party. Kudos to Larry for coming up with a new party idea that I hadn’t thought of yet. What a great celebration. Thanks to the family and friends who celebrated the day with me.

Tim Meets Elliot Sadler and Richard Petty

Elliot Sadler (the Best Buy driver) and Richard Petty were on the corporate campus this year in June.

I got Tim on campus and he had a fun time meeting the guys.

It was pretty cool showing him around the office and where all the magic happens. Best Buy has a pretty cool campus, so it’s fun to give tours.

Abby’s Birthday

Abby turned one on the fifteenth. Both Tara and I are in shock! We just brought her home from the hospital and now are little baby is one.

Ever since Emma’s 2nd birthday, we’ve used a polka-dot themed door display for birthdays. She loved it and Tara and I enjoyed watching her play with them. The little dots just proved too much for her to resist.

That night, we had a small family dinner at Acapulco Restaurant in Stillwater with family. Her big party is this weekend. She got a few presents and got to spend a little time with her great grandma. It’s a great family place and now that Adam works there, it works well with the family.

Jake is helping Abby with her new toy.

Jacob had a little homework to do and Uncle Adam got him some bottle caps for his collection if he finished it. He’s been doing great in school and we’re happy with the progress. He’s reading at a 2nd or 3rd grade level.

After, we went to Nelson’s (home of the ridiculously large ice cream cones) and Abby got her first taste of Ice Cream. Jake’s friend Hunter was there and they got to hang out.

Jacob and his friend Hunter.

All told it was a nice family time with everyone: Grandma & pappa, Grandma McCloud, Adam, Shelly, Emily & Kelly, and our family. Very nice to have a relaxing day ahead of big party on Saturday.