jesse's birthday

this weekend was pretty packed. not only was it the beginning of stampede but it was also jesse's birthday weekend. friday was a nice, relaxing night. jesse and i cooked dinner and took emi for a good two hour walk through fish creek. the weather has been amazing lately so we couldn't waste it by sitting inside.

western girl through and through

how can you not love her?

saturday was jesse's birthday. every year jesse celebrates his birthday with his good friend caleb since they are one day apart. i always feel bad for the boys.  since their birthdays, july 9th and 10th, generally coincide with opening weekend everyone is dieing to head down to the grounds and they always get stuck going to the stampede regardless of whether or not that is how they want to spend their birthday. this year we decided to compromise and have everyone a barbecuing with the plan being to head down to the stampede grounds around 8 o'clock. one thing our friends are always good for is bringing more than enough food. all of the girls made side dishes like green salad, potatoes and pasta salad, while the boys all brought meat and booze (typical). all and all i think everyone had an amazing time.

the birthday cake i made jesse.
i know, it looks like it belongs to a five year old but that is what i get for letting him choose his own sprinkles (yes, they are dinosaurs) and candles.

barbecuing

jesse seriously enjoying his birthday cake 

enjoying ourselves at the stampede grounds

emi welcoming jesse home!

we had a ton of fun on saturday and were definitely feeling it on sunday. my mom called at about eleven o'clock inviting us over for breakfast. we went over for pancakes and sausages so that my family could give jesse his birthday presents. he got some new underwear (is it weird that my mother buys my fiance fancy lulu lemon underwear? possibly, possibly....), a few t-shirts and some summer sandals. after hanging out at my parents for a while we came home and cleaned our house since it was a bit of a disaster after saturday. then, after a relaxing afternoon, we went to jesse's parents for his birthday dinner. val and kev got jesse a pellet gun and jesse, being a big kid at heart, loved it. after taking turns shooting the pellet gun we ate dinner. kev made an delicious dinner of bbq ribs, corn on the cob, potato salad, coleslaw and baked beans. then, for dessert, val made the most hilarious birthday cake ever for jesse: a mini emi!

the cake version of emi

honestly, i think that jesse had a really great weekend. he was definitely tired come sunday night...

PS>> the wedding invitations are officially in the mail so keep your eyes open!