Well we just returned from my Birthday lunch at the ‘rents’ house! BOY what a good one it was…read on

We had all my favorites:

• My Mom’s homemade baked beans
• My Mom’s homemade party potatoes
• Grilled corn on the cob
• Grilled teriyaki chicken

This corn is so sweet and delicious – it doesn’t need anything on top. No butter, no seasonings, no nothing!!

Ugh – these baked beans and potatoes are to.die.for.!!

My brother and sister-in-law brought over a fruit salad to share! Is there anything as refreshing as fresh pineapple?

Then, of course, we had CAKE! You know the one – Pepperidge Farms Frozen Cake!! It’s our family’s tradition to get this for everyone’s birthday. Yep – it’s the tiny, frozen cake you get in the freezer section of the grocery store, but seriously this is the best cake you will ever eat in your entire life!

Then – gifties!! My brothers + sister-in-law gave me a beautiful silver bracelet, a gift certificate and an Iowa Hawkeyes jersey (go Hawks!)

Now for the doozie. My parents gave me something that I’ve been wanting for years. Something I just blogged about recently…2 prints by my favorite photographer Lisa Kristine!! Not just any two prints either, they gave me two GEISHA prints!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so touched that I cried. Yep, I did – I wept like a little baby! I don’t know why – I was just so happy and truly touched that my parents remembered how much I had loved these prints when I first saw them in Minneapolis almost three years ago. I couldn’t help it!

My parents said they learned from the photographer that she is something like 1 of 3 people in the world that are allowed to photograph Geishas – amazing.

And HOW WEIRD is it that I just blogged about this very print?!

Poor Ben again (I feel like I saw “poor Ben” a lot) he got me the same prints before my Mom told him they had gotten them for me!!! How weird!! He graciously took one for the team and sent them back to the photographer (which I didn’t even know you could do) and thankfully she agreed to take them back. Ugh, what an amazing family and husband I have – I feel so lucky!!!!

Here’s all of us “kids”:

The love of my life

And my incredible parents:

Thanks to all of them for the best 26th birthday a gal could ever have!!

Up next: Birthday dinner with Ben’s family – can’t wait!!