It's Birthday Time Again!

I remember when birthdays were really something to look forward to--they just couldn't come around fast enough!  You know, waiting for that special eighth birthday when you could get baptized, or turning 14 when you could get your drivers' license (Yes, we could get a drivers' license at 14 in Idaho!), or when you could go on your first date at 16, looking forward to high school graduation when you could start college, etc., etc.  Now, it seems like birthdays just come too quickly!  But, this year we had such an enjoyable time for George's birthday that I'm sure even he is fine with growing another year older!

We began the evening by eating at our favorite restaurant--O'Charley's!  George spent most of the evening on the phone talking to all the kids who called him to wish him a "Happy Birthday!"

Then Jeff and Amy had us over to their home for the biggest birthday cupcakes ever!

Birthday cupcakes aren't complete without ice cream!

My dad said he doesn't remember when he ever got to celebrate George's birthday with him, so that was so nice to have him with us, too!

Lola getting a bedtime story from her dad.  He tells the best bedtime stories!

Don't laugh at the bag I had to put George's gift in--it was the only one big enough to hold it!

Yes, George has finally moved up in the world to the place where he needs a bag for his laptop which the boys got him!

Amy knows very well that every new thing that George gets has to be loaded by her, instructed by her, and taken care of by her.  What would we do without all of Amy's technology knowledge!

It has been a pleasure to have Dad with us for two weeks.  George has come over every day for lunch to make sure my dad had a great lunch.  Thanks so much, George!

When it was time to go, Lola did her "Please don't go!" pose--well, it isn't just a pose.  She honestly hates it when people leave!  Thanks, Jeff and Amy, for the wonderful birthday party evening!

The next weekend, George had two presentations to do for the church in Miami, so we set out for that.  One thing we didn't want to miss was seeing the new Ft. Lauderdale Temple in progress.  They had just placed the Angel Moroni statue on top that week.  It is going to be beautiful when it is all finished!

Saturday night, we went to the Crab House which was highly recommended to us.  There were blocks of cars around it, so we figured it must be good.

And was it ever!  They gave huge portions of the freshest seafood ever!

It was filled with probably 200 people--I should have taken a wider view, but they just had paper on the tables so that if you were messy, they just pulled it off.  Basket lights gave the rustic feel.  Also, they had mallets for beating open the lobsters and crab legs.  Everyone was hammering away, and it was really noisy in there, but so fun.  Every time they said over the loud speaker that it was someone's birthday or anniversary, everyone started beating their mallets wildly.  Yes, it was quite the experience!

Our hotel was right next to the place where they store the yachts.  This was from our hotel window.

On our way home, we stopped at Kyle and Kim's who had invited us for a birthday dinner for George.  Brady and Jenna had made George birthday cards. 

Brady had even included some of his Halloween candy as a gift!  How thoughtful!

Grandpa Rigby couldn't believe how tall Carter had gotten.

Grandpa said this was heaven, as he sat out in the patio area by the pool.

Kyle and Kim had fixed a wonderful barbeque lunch which we really enjoyed.

Harley wanted to be part of the dinner, too.

Kim fixed George's favorite--brownies and ice cream.

Thanks, Kyle, Kim, Carter, Jenna, and Brady for the wonderful birthday party you gave for George.  We all enjoyed it so much!