Grant's Birthday!

Grant turned 24 on Sunday the 12^th/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 :)