nathan gets older, too!

And here's another one from the archives (it was written back in January).  I can't believe it's taken us 6 months to post it!

Kristin here.  Nathan likes to remind me that I'm old, but he got a bit older, too.  Since his birthday falls around Christmas, part of his birthday celebration over the years has been decorating the Christmas tree.  We still don't have a tree of our own, but he was able to partake in the tradition at his parents' house.  Here he is with his brother, stringing up the lights.

Meanwhile, Nathan's mom and our niece worked on his cake.

And Nathan's dad lounged around on the floor. :)

Occasionally he would go help our niece and nephew "clean up" their cake mess.

We enjoyed a family meal together to celebrate Nathan's birthday.  The chocolate cake was amazing, as usual!

Our niece and nephew provided after-dinner entertainment...

...and then it was time for presents!  Nathan's such a nerd - he actually wanted engineering books! :)

Dessert was followed by an evening of board games.  Nathan was obviously deep in thought about his strategy during this one.

Nathan's actual birthday was on a weeknight, so I worked hard to plan a special dinner for him.  He loves paninis, but I had never made them, so I decided to surprise him with some!  I made a grilled chicken and bacon panini with smoked gouda on focaccia.  I also whipped up some homemade sweet potato fries - his favorite.  Come to find out, Nathan had eaten a panini when he went out for his birthday lunch at work!  (Mine was way better, though.)

Here's Nathan, wearing his special "birthday hat" from work.  Haha!

My gift to Nathan was to take him to buy tennis shoes.  The shoes he currently had were old, ratty, and only $30 when they were new - it was time for new ones!  I think we spent over an hour at that store.  Now that he works on orthopedic implants for foot deformities, he knows what kinds of damage a bad pair of shoes can do to feet.  No more cheap tennis shoes for him!

After an hour, he had narrowed it down to two different pairs...

...and we have a winner!

After our shoe-shopping excursion, we came home where I had made Nathan a pazookie (skillet cookie, for those not in the know).  Ironically, he also had a pazookie at his work lunch!  Once again, mine was better.  :)