Labor Day Weekend in Phoenix

We drove to Phoenix for the Labor Day weekend.

I packed us a lunch to eat in the car while we drove.

Fred scoped out the eating along the way and it looked no one was offering

dine in. We didn't want to order food and then park somewhere in the 100+ weather.

Eating as we drove proved to make for a much faster arrival.

We arrived in time to go with Evan to his swimming lesson.

His swimming lesson is held in a private facility. I've never seen anything like it before.

Scott grilled us some Kabobs, minus the skewers. Pineapple, peppers and steak. It was very delicious. 

Scott and Jess have a list of home improvement projects. 

Scott and Fred tackled this project. Actually Scott did 99.9% of the work. 

I thought Fred was a great supervisor. He pointed out a few options and Scott made the decision.

I loved watching this process.

On Saturday afternoon, Fred and I drove to Scottsdale to meet Shan and Judy Hubsmith for lunch.

It was great to see them and catch up on what's been going on with our lives since they moved away.

That evening they tackled one more job. A new light fixture over the dining table. 

First meal under their new light fixture.

Here the boys are cooling off while Scott and Fred were working on the lights.

When we first arrived, this was the birthday greeting the family

created for me. The boys helped too.

A very sweet gesture!

Looks like necklace examining time for Evan. The boys seem pretty comfortable with us. They are still young so Fred and I are still navigating how to interact with them. We aren't comfortable being too pushy with them. We sure do like being there and watching everything going on.

We did go swimming on Sunday afternoon. That was fun. 

Jess worked on wedding cake flavors and we got to reap the benefits of that. 

It was a good trip. Comes and goes very quickly.

Birthday Number 63

Once again, I arrived to work to find these beautiful decorations.

It makes me very happy and I feel the love.

Many people take their birthday off from work.

Not me - I kind of love the attention!

Becky brought me these balloons.

Here's the front desk from all angles.

Janie brought me all these cupcakes which I shared.

My good friend John brought me this cake from Nothing But Bundt Cakes.

Red Velvet!!!

These are some of the cards I received.

Becky wanted to take me to lunch on Saturday. When I arrived, I didn't notice Rachel (next to me) sitting in the corner of the waiting area. She finally stepped up to me and then it registered that something was going on.

Rachel and Tina are my good friends from church.

This is Becky and her mom Frankie.

Rachel brought me this beautiful potted plant.

Fred and I went out to Red Lobster for my birthday dinner.

I took Friday off so I could just enjoy being off work to lounge around or get caught up.

Friday morning we headed out to Walmart, Costco and Kohls.

It was so wonderful to shop during the weekday.

Nothing was too crowded. I never get to do that.

My Dad asked if I could come up with something to hide the cords draping from his TV.

I decided to make a wanna be wall hanging.

This is the backside of the wall hanging.

I bought some fabric self adhesive ink sheets to print off some pictures.

It was actually so easy to use and I'm really pleased with the outcome. It didn't really take too long.

It's plenty plain, but I didn't want to make it too busy and have it be distracting to 

what he is watching on TV.

So I had a really wonderful birthday as well as a few more celebrations in the days before and after.

On Monday before my birthday, my good friends Suzy & Jill took me out to Chinese food.

The Monday after my birthday, Fred took be to Red Robin for my free birthday burger.