Mike's 43rd Birthday

I dropped Maysen off at Sam's so she could take her down to Provo for the Storymakers conference. That is so nice of Sam! It sure made my day a lot easier. Today is Mike's 43rd birthday. Mike, Preston and I have been playing this game called Seafall. It takes awhile to figure out, but then it is fun. We have been playing it for a few months now. Well, Preston didn't adhere to birthday rules and he stomped us today. He also managed to get himself crowned Emperor which triggered a whole different set of rules. We'll have to figure out how to play that now. Jorja made Mike Churro French Toast while we were playing. Shea came over this morning before softball practice. I picked up Jorja from practice and we stopped at a game store called Mystic that is by our house. Jorja was a little creeped out. Lots of people were in the back playing Dungeons and Dragons. Some were painting little figurines or building their worlds. We did find two games that we think Mike will like. Actually there were a lot of games we thought he would like, but we limited ourselves to two. That gift is going to be from the kids.

Preston had a piano recital today. He did great. I recorded his last song. He is so cute!

Preston

The piano kids. The Christensens are next to Preston. I see the Halls and the Willes. Audrey is wearing the hat. Sister Newman is their teacher.

 I like Preston and Ava in this picture.

We made it back home and I had just enough time to finish Mike's cake before it was time to pick up Maysen. Sam was super, super, super nice and drove Maysen home when she was finished. Then Sam went back to Provo for the dinner she needed to attend. Talk about going above and beyond in helping me out! Once Maysen was home it was present time! Not a lot of presents, but still fun.

Mike ~ 43 years old

 Gifts from the kids

 I got Mike an air fryer. I hope he likes it and I hope it works!

 Mike's beautiful cake. Lemon everything.

 Stockton looks concerned about the way Mike is blowing out his candles.

We went out to eat at Mulan's. It is a small Chinese restaurant near Jordan High School. We were the only ones in there for awhile. The people working had two small children. The mom was trying to help her young son learn to count. She kept saying, "Eleven, twelve . . ." Jorja could understand her when she talked to her boy in Chinese. Jorja whispered to us saying, "She's telling him he can get a treat if he says his numbers." How cool is that? I begged Jorja to come with me and talk to the lady in Chinese. She doesn't get a lot of practice outside of the classroom. Jorja did not want to go, but she did anyway. She spoke in Chinese to tell the lady her food was very good. They had a conversation in Chinese, which I didn't understand at all. I loved it though. The mom called the little boy over. Jorja said, in Chinese, "Your English is very well." Or something like that. The little kids eyes about popped out of his head. It was almost like he was thinking, "How do you know our secret language?" So fun!

Mike got a birthday card from his dad with a gift card inside. The gift card was to Chuck-E-Cheese. We laughed and laughed. That was fun to tease him about. We used to go to Chuck-E-Cheese a lot when our kids were little. We haven't been there for years. Although I bet Preston would love to go there sometime. Too bad the Chuck-E-Cheese by our house closed a few years ago. I wonder where one is. Surely they still exist or they wouldn't be selling gift cards.

We came home from dinner and played a few rounds of Code Names Pictures. That was fun. I hope Mike had a great birthday. At least I hope it was nice. Or okay. I don't think it was horrible, so that's good.