At Home for My Birthday

I posted the list of "away from home" birthdays yesterday; here's the list of "at home" ones. What fun memories!

1983 – This was Weston’s blessing weekend, so both sets of parents were in town. On Saturday the 4th, we watched the parade in downtown Provo, Julie babysat Weston while the rest of us went out to dinner, and then we visited Great-Grandpa to get a four generation WOW picture.

1984 – My journal says our contribution to the family barbecue at Uncle Mike’s was a flag jello salad. I wonder how I created that!

1988 – Louise’s family joined us for our small town’s celebration with lots of activities for the kids. We took a break to enjoy cake and homemade ice cream at our apartment before returning to the park for fireworks.

1990 – A couple of years later, we had fun at the city celebration again, but this time Wayne had some responsibilities helping the Scouts, so there wasn’t any time for birthday cake, but that’s okay.

1991 – The annual company party was usually held in June at Lagoon; this year they were passing out free return tickets, which we used on our July holiday. Although there wasn’t any birthday cake, it was still a great way to celebrate!

1993 – We blessed Steven on my birthday, and the company in town made sure I had a birthday cake. Wasn’t that nice of them?

1994 – We came home from our Memorial Day vacation to a new job offer, so in July we were busy getting our house ready to sell. We did have family visitors for the holiday weekend, including a surprise visit from my grandfather who brought an ice cream cake to share. It was a wonderful reminder of the combined birthday celebrations (his birthday is the day after mine) we had when I was younger. And we finished our chores in time for one last chance to appreciate the Riverdale City fireworks.

1995 – After doing some chores at home, we had a family trip to the park, returned home for milkshakes and barbecued ribs, and then climbed a nearby hill with some friends to watch the city’s fireworks.

1996 – Some friends invited us over for swimming and a barbecue.

1997 – We spent the day digging post holes, but my family still made it a special day.

2001 – We had a super special family weekend celebrating Weston’s Eagle Court of Honor and Steven’s baptism, followed by a family reunion which lasted through my birthday. Great memories!

2002 – Now that we had a house with a pool, it was our turn to invite friends over for swimming, a barbecue and fireworks.

2003 – Wayne and Jeff were at Scout Camp; the rest of us enjoyed a fun barbecue with friends, complete with a birthday cake.

2004 – No barbecues or fireworks for a Sunday birthday, but it’s still a special day, and I got sung to in Relief Society, Primary and choir practice. Brad made me a cake.

2010 – Another Sunday birthday!

2012 – Typical at-home holiday – chores then fun.

2013 – This year we didn’t even have to do chores!

2016 – Jeff and Alicia came for the weekend and we had a terrific barbecue at home.

2020 – The beaches are closed for the holiday weekend, so we’ll save that family barbecue for next week, but we’re hopeful we can have some socially-distant fun at a local city park.