When Daddy got home from work, he got to play with the kids, the BEST birthday present in the whole world. We had "Dance Party USA" going on in our family room while the balloon sang, and sang and sang and sang! Kaitlyn told Daddy while in the middle of shaking her booty, "Dance Daddy!" So cute.
Rich came over to have dinner with us. I made Nathan's favorite casserole, Chicken Curry with broccoli and Cheddar, but I added a bit to it this time. I'm not so sure he was that enthused about my additions, but whatever, he told me to do what I wanted, so I DID. ;)
For his cake, I got him a cheesecake. We love cheesecake. LOVE cheesecake. I got an assortment of toppings for him to choose from, cherry topping, lemon topping and caramel topping. He chose the caramel topping, which proved to be a great choice. BTW, Whole Foods' caramel sauce is TO DIE FOR. We sang to him as I brought his caramel-drizzled cheesecake plate (decorated with "Happy 30th Birthday Daddy" written in red sparkling cake decorating goo) to him, and then noticed, after the candles had been blown out, that my camera wasn't recording. Everyone was a great sport, and we had a do-over. So Nathan got to blow out his candles twice. Ha. Nathan escaped in time for me to put the kids into the tub and into bed, to go play a few rounds of Golden Tee at the local watering hole, Spatz. He has to work tomorrow, so he should be home soon, hopefully. Ha. It's been a fun day, playing with my kids and celebrating Nathan's birthday.
Today also brings me great sadness and loss. My cousin Maureen Green Casey passed away on June 1, and her funeral was held today in Madison, South Dakota, where Maureen grew up in a huge family (she had 12 siblings). She had been fighting ovarian cancer since late 2007, and it took our sweet Maureen from us. See her obituary here. I was lucky enough to get to go to Phoenix last January (for a photography conference) and see the Casey family and to photograph Maureen, Katie and Aiden. I snapped a photo of Mike with Maureen too, at a restaurant that their son Connor works. When I was there in January, Maureen had just found out that her cancer had returned and her counts back up. She was waiting to find out if she would be eligible for a drug trial through Mayo clinic. She was so positive, upbeat, honest and trusting in God's plan. When photographing Maureen, I remember looking into her eyes through the camera and seeing such a beautiful soul, such a beautiful woman. We will love you Maureen, forever.
Here is a bit from yesterday....
I went to the airport last night, after a week to myself at home, to pick up my family. The day couldn't have been longer, but thankfully, I had several things to do to keep me busy until it was time to drive up to Sanford. I made the Target and grocery run, then went to mass at 6, ate dinner at Panera (and ran into a couple that were both teachers at Bishop Moore when I was there- Mr. and Mrs. Thanski), and then headed out. Nathan had tipped me off via text that they were either on time or early, and thanks to lovely technology, I was able to check their flight time on my iPhone. Sweet- EARLY!
I was eagerly awaiting their arrival while standing at the bottom of the escalator, but near the elevator since I knew they had a stroller with them. To my happiness, and surprise, when that elevator door opened up and I saw James' monkey bag roll out first, I knew they were coming. I intentionally fell to my knees and put my purse down for the biggest, sweetest, most gut-wrenching hugs EVER. "HI MOMMY!" Kaitlyn said. I was all teary-eyed and sappy, but it had seemed like they had been gone FOREVER. Then I got to hug Nathan, my loving husband, who so willingly took the kids on the trip by himself. :)
After the tears re-absorbed back into my eyes and I could see clearly again, I noticed that Kaitlyn didn't have any pants on. Luckily, her new Iowa State shirt was long enough to just barely hide her diaper. Apparently there had either been a very large pee-pee or she had gotten Gatorade all over her shorts... we never really will know what happened. Ha.
I'm so thankful that they had a good time in Iowa, but even more thankful that they are now home. :)
