Sean's birthday shindig

For Sean's birthday on 3 July, we had people over for dinner and games! I meant to take a picture of the spread, but forgot. But there were.... strawberries and cherries with cream cheese dip; veggie tray with Ranch dip; taco lasagna (I seem to make that a lot for special-ish occasions); chips and salsa; sweet tea and soda; chocolate inside-out cake with ice cream; and lots of balloons! Can't have a birthday without balloons. I spent most of the day, while Sean was at work, feverishly preparing the house and the food. It all came together!


Opening his present from Mom and Dad J: a package "from home" would not be complete without home-baked goodies, like these awesome brownies (that he's eagerly sniffing)! I come by my baking genes honestly.

The crew: Rachel and Josh, who got engaged July 4th (and we got to witness it!); the very-pregnant Allens; and Leah and Matt, from our Friday night small group

And... substitution of Cam for Matt so we could document everyone who was there :)

July 3rd, and can you guess what those are? Not just tanks, but firework-tanks. Boys never outgrow their toys. Sean was really excited to use his "discretionary" money for the month on these fireworks (we each get a certain sum per month to use as fun money). There was an epic battle, sort of, and much fun was had by all. We also played Mad Gab, a hilarious team game. After it was all said and done, I was pretty exhausted, but it was a great day. Sean said it was a really good birthday, and that makes me happy. He is now 24, and for the next three months we will be the same age... until I turn 25 in October. :) Yikes! That's a big one. I would say that makes me feel old, but it's more like I feel more grounded and mature (not to be too presumptuous). We are really enjoying this time of life. We are settling into "life as it is now"-- learning how to be a husband and wife, building our life together, communicating, anticipating impending parenthood-- and it is very good.