Birthday Surprise

Little did I know how well my family can keep a secret from me. I sitting at the end of my driveway after work talking to brother Pat on the phone when Michael pulls up next to me and I turn to say something and there is SANDI taking my picture! SURPRISE!! How the heck did they get away with that! I forgot what I said to Pat but hung up quickly. **(side note, Pat is doing much better these days after his stay in the hospital, that was quite a scare)
(sorry i cannot figure out how I got or how to undo the above to look like a link)

So here for my birthday surprise is my Sister Sandi. It was like we had never been apart. We just picked up where we left off.

Fortunately we had planned on going to the beach for the 4th to watch fireworks so Sandi got to see and smell the Pacific Ocean again. Of course we had cake and it was delicious!

After indulging on chocolate, raspberry filling we drove down to the beach and watched for 2 hours 22 miles of fireworks exploding over the beach. It was so beautiful!

Mike and Katie shot off a few fireworks as well and Katie had the best time. Still a kid. It was very cold so the "old folks" stayed in the truck where it was warm.

We headed home the next day to get things done at the house. Mike picked up 2 llamas that we will be using for hiking. They will carry my luxury items. There names are Buttons and Joc, both males. Very docile but not really sure about us yet. It will take time to get to know them.

Joc


I have been without an oven for a few months now( oh how I miss those cookies and scones and such) so we decided to use the gas BBQ for our Pizza's we made and WALLA!!!

Deliciously baked vegetarian pizza. The crust was yummy and crisp. Burnt in one spot but not so bad.
I am happy to announce that we ordered a new stove but it will not arrive until the middle of August. Guess I will be using the grill more often.

So there you have it in a nutshell. I am sorry I did not take more pictures to share but just stayed too busy. Lots of good memories though.