Today the amazingly awesome Miss Ava turns 11 years old! It’s hard to believe we’ve been parents for 11 years, but watching Ava and her siblings grow up has already been an unbelievable ride. While today is Ava’s actual birthday, we decided to hold her birthday party last weekend because we figured everyone would be busy during Thanksgiving weekend.
The party was held at our home on Saturday afternoon. 17 of Ava’s friends, plus another eight adults, were all over for about three hours. Ava is a big fan of the Dog Man book series, so we used that as her party’s theme. The party included a Dog Man trivia game, a version of “Pin the tail on the donkey” called “Pin the badge on Dog Man,” sandwiches from Subway (Ava’s favorite), and a chocolate-caramel ice cream cake, per Ava’s request. She called it one of the best days of her life, which was great to hear, but no one deserves more credit for this than Jessica. The amount of work she puts into the kids’ birthday parties is always unbelievable, and this one was no exception.
Today Nana stopped by the house to wish Ava a happy birthday and visit a bit. Her birthday is exactly one month before Christmas, so it always signals the start of the holiday season. Speaking of holidays, yesterday was Thanksgiving, which we held for the second consecutive year in our new home. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make plans with family for Thanksgiving this year, mainly because Jessica and I have been so busy lately that we forgot to set everything up. Luckily, our friends Tiko, Tina and their daughters Helen and Bea were able to come over and spend the day with us.
I made roasted garlic mashed potatoes, sourdough stuffing, vegetable gravy, sauteed green beans, and a vegan turkey loaf filled with cranberry stuffing. My buddy Tiko really wanted to make mac ‘n cheese because he hasn’t had dairy in forever, along with a cherry pie. He made the most massive pot of mac ‘n cheese, along with the biggest cherry pie I’ve ever seen in my life. It was all pretty over the top but also hilarious and memorable.
Next up will be a visit from Amy, Tom, Joel, and Melanie for Amy’s birthday in early December. They’re all coming to Vegas for a little weekend getaway, and we’re looking forward to seeing everyone. The kids were pretty little the last time they saw Joel and Melanie, so they’re looking forward to meeting them again. We’re all going to The Neon Museum, which Jessica has been wanting to see for 15 years. I don’t know why we couldn’t make it happen before this, but we’re very much looking forward to it.
A couple of weeks after that, we will be driving up to Colorado for Christmas at Amy and Tom’s house. We’re looking forward to sledding, driving snowmobiles, ice skating, and building snowmen. It’s been a while since we’ve been in the snow, so that should be fun and memorable. That’s pretty much it for now; everyone is doing great, and time continues to fly, as usual. We wish all of our family and friends a happy holiday season and look forward to seeing some of you soon.
For today, however, it’s still all about Ava. Thank you for being such a wonderful daughter and sister. You are more loved than you even know, and we’re all so proud of you! Happy 11th birthday, sweetheart.
