Hey, Everyone! It's Emily's Birthday!

Happy birthday, Emily!

Megadittoes on these posts here and here from last year.

She'd like everyone to know that you can give her her presents any time you want.

Official celebration later this week. Big doings planned with her giggling teen girlfriends.

Rachel's Birthday

It was Rachel's choice for her birthday dinner so it was her idea to go to The Melting Pot in Bricktown. Hey, great idea!

You know what would've been a better idea? If Dad had remembered to bring the camera. Kee-riminy. Doofuses come no bigger than Rachel's Dad. Ah, but I had my iPhone's camera didn't I? A sure guarantee of dim, grainy pictures to commemorate this event. Let's take a look:

Hey, not too bad. Rachel looks quite pleased to be here. Good. We were, too:

Emily always finds time to throw some gang signs. Represent, yo!

Rachel studies the menu; she must choose wisely:

Emily looks on and offers her sage advice:

Turns out the table they gave us wasn't the one we had reserved. No prob. We moved over to our assigned spot and picked up from there. Emily had been perfectly happy where she was, thank you very much:

Rachel's pleased with the new location:

Fondue forks at the ready:

The cheese course arrives and it's all a blur of hands after that:

I swear I saw sparks flying as our forks clashed with one another. Positively medieval:

Time to think about the next course:

Some of us think a little more deeply than others. Will I get enough to eat? Will I?

Yes, yes I think I will get enough to eat. But I can't be absolutely sure, can I?

Oooo. The meat course. The girls had the Pacific Rim; they were a'hankerin' for the duck. Their cooking style? The chicken brothy stuff:

The meat arrives and it's another blur of hands and sparking forks:

Yes, I believe Emily's getting her share but Rachel's ready for some chocolate:

No, not chocolate, not yet. Clara and I had the Coq a Vin style. Looks a little thick in the aftermath but tasty:

An existential play: When will the chocolate come? When? No one knows but life's absurd while you wait:

Ahhhh. Chocolate at last. Rachel's moved to tears.

Nom nom nom.

So, a splendid time was had by all. A memorable choice for a memorable birthday. Though I think we all agreed, next time we'll move from the cheese course directly to the chocolate. Why waste time with salad and meat and all? Life's too short!

The Bestest Day Ever!

If you ask Emily.

It's her birthday. Happy birthday, Emily!

Plans? Already blogged about 'em. Doesn't mean there won't be surprises in the mail or a card or cake or something. Just to keep things interesting.

If you see her, give her a shout out, okay?

Emily's Birthday!

Okay, we're a little early - it's not until tomorrow, the 3rd - but we celebrated early at, where else, The Cheesecake Factory yesterday. It's Emily's default place of celebration after all so that's where we went.

I think her expression has more to do with Dad using his cell phone camera to take her picture than her mood. Inside, she's thrilled. No, really:

Ah, but you couldn't tell we were at the Cheesecake Factory unless there was some kind of Cheesecake Factoriness in the background. A tilt of the camera and there's the proof:

Emily allowed us to embarrass her the best we could by telling our waiter it was her birthday. They sang to her and then gave her her dessert with a candle.

Oh, Dad, if you must:

A splendid time for all.

And a great time to remind us again about the blessing that is Emily. It was thirteen years ago that we were anxiously awaiting her arrival. The 3rd was on a Sunday that year and we had gone to the zoo because Clara was feeling kind of bored. Emily wasn't due to arrive until the 7th so what was the harm? We had a wonderful time with Rachel at the zoo like we always did and came home to messages on our voice mail: Emily had arrived. I told Clara she wouldn't be feeling bored anymore. Off to the hospital we rushed and we greeted our Emily and welcomed her to our family. She completed our family and we've been blessed by her ever since.

So, yes, quite a day to celebrate.