Grant turned 24 on Sunday the 12th/Mother’s
Day! Thought I would share how we
celebrated his first birthday since we have been married.
We started last week on Tuesday with lunch at Red Robin, Grant's favorite restaurant. He has a “Red
Royalty” card, which allows him to get a free burger during his birthday
month. We had to take a trip down to
Idaho Falls that Tuesday to get some stuff for our fish at Petco, so we decided
to just eat at Red Robin then. His
favorite burger is the Royal Red Robin burger, which has bacon and a fried egg
on it… apparently it’s “really good”. He
was certainly a happy camper eating his burger :)
I had asked Grant a few weeks before what he
wanted for his birthday, and he kept telling me nothing. He said he didn't want me to spend a dime on
his birthday and to just do something that didn't cost money. So, I told him to make a list of ten things
he wanted for his birthday. Apparently I
should have set some kind of rules because the list he composed was titled “10
things I want for my birthday that don’t cost money”. That just has Grant written all over it, doesn't it?! I kindly asked him to make
a second list of 10 things he wanted for his birthday that do cost money just
in case I actually wanted to get something for him. This second list consisted of finance books
only. If you don’t know Grant very well,
now you do! However hard this was for
me, because birthday are always a huge deal in my family and I always go
all-out for birthdays, I complied with his wishes to keep it simple and not
spend a lot of money on his birthday. I
ordered three of the books for him online, got him some of his favorite treats,
and made him a 24-punch card booklet with random favors from me (one of the
things he asked for that didn't cost money was a coupon book).
I still wanted to surprise him with SOMETHING because he
already knew everything about his birthday.
I had been planning to take him golfing the day before his birthday, but
somehow he figured it out and told me he didn't want to (yeah right!!) because
he didn't want to spend the money on it.
So, I took him to play tennis instead at a park here in town… poor
guy. I’m TERRIBLE at tennis. Should have just hired someone to play with
him! He spent most of the time teaching
me haha :) About a week before his
birthday, I was texting a couple from our ward that we are good friends with
about having them come over for dinner and games on his birthday, which I was
going to keep from Grant. I also sent a
text to my boss about making a cheesecake for him since that is one of his
favorite desserts. I told him to not
read my texts until after his birthday in order to keep these things a
secret. He still figured both of these
surprises out. Even though I tried to
play the dessert off by making the cookies he asked for, he still knew I got a
cheesecake. "I am just that good", he says. I am anxious to see if I can
ever surprise him for his birthday.
After we played tennis on Saturday, he helped me do some
grocery shopping for his birthday breakfast and dinner the next day, and then
we went for hot dogs at a place called Skeeters. Afterwards, he went to play baseball with one
of his companions from his mission and some other guys. On Sunday, I made hash browns, sausage, and
eggs for his birthday breakfast. After
church, he had to stay for his new calling as assistant ward clerk, so we asked
our friends to give me a ride home. This
was when I went and picked up the “surprise” cheesecake and decorated with a
batman “Happy Birthday” banner. I made
lasagna, bread sticks and salad for dinner, and we also had some watermelon…
one of Grant’s favorite fruits. Our
friends joined us for dinner and games, and we had a ton of fun! After games we lit some birthday candles,
sang “Happy Birthday”, and ate some cake cookie whoopie pies and strawberry
cheesecake. Even though I didn't succeed
in surprising him, he didn't care and had a fabulous birthday :)
Birthday Breakfast!
Batman birthday banner
Birthday dessert :)