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Ryan was fortunate enough to have an extended birthday celebration this past week. His grandfather was inducted into the High School Coaches Hall of Fame and so Ryan and his brother flew down to support Grandpa Long and join in the celebration!

The guys all went golfing on Saturday morning. This has become their new hobby and I'm glad that they had time to golf. They tried a new course that seemed to be a better fit for their skill level, and everyone had a great time.

For dinner on Saturday, Ryan got to pick the restaurant that he and his family (including cousins and aunt) went to. Being the smart man that he is, he picked Outback (yes, I was a little jealous that I was in Utah missing out on the deliciousness). After dinner, Aunt Flower surprised him with cheesecake and Star Wars presents -- she knows him so well! She is so thoughtful to have brought 2 cheesecakes on the airplane all the way from California! Sunday was church and then the Hall of Fame banquet/induction ceremony for Grandpa Long. It was a great event and Grandpa did a wonderful job with his speech. He was a high school basketball coach for a long time, had 4 state championship teams, has been very involved even after retirement, and we are so proud of him!

Ryan was back home for his actual birthday. For dinner he fired up the grill -- steaks for the 2 of us and the regular hot dogs/hamburgers for the kids. (I got to have steak after all!) I didn't know that Aunt Flower was going to treat him to cheesecake (which he brought some home), so we had another cheesecake here! I had debated whether or not to make it from scratch or to buy it . . . looking at all I wanted to do that weekend, I decided to buy it. Maybe next year!

We got him presents about some of his favorite things. Currently, his favorite show is "The Biggest Loser", so we got him a Biggest Loser book and DVD. And since he loves to grill, he also got a new grill cover and a super-duty grill brush. My other present to him was to deep clean his grill. It was long overdue! Unfortunately, I started the project a little later in the day than I had originally wanted, so I wasn't quite done when he got home. It was quite a project! I didn't have time to get it perfectly clean, but it is now MUCH better than it was. I didn't think to get a picture of the mess while in the middle of the cleaning process, but here is the aftermath to give you an idea:Happy Birthday, Ryan!