Birthday weekend

 We had a lot of fun celebrating Nate's birthday.  Since his birthday was on a Friday of a 3-day weekend we got to do so much!  I LOVE making a big deal out of his birthday.   He's such a practical guy who really asks for nothing and doesn't need anything.  He doesn't make a big deal out of himself or how great he is as a husband and father so I like to make sure he knows how much we love and appreciate him.  Violet and I are so blessed to have him and we want to make sure he knows that we think he is the yin to our yang.

We spent the morning making his requested birthday dessert: turtle cheesecake with a cookie cake crust.  She was very helpful in taste testing!

"Squishing" the cream cheese

Helping me mix

Our CSA was perfectly made for his birthday.  The most amazingly delicious local brats, fresh hoagies, billy goat chips, and plenty of veggies.

The big surprise was a new flat screen TV!  All of the families went in on it to surprise him.  I stashed it at a neighbor's house a week before and Vi and I snuck it in the house after he went to work.  He was SO SURPRISED!! 

I used our CSA veggies to make a salad to go with our brats and chips.  Tat-soi (an asian green), beet tops, and kale all sauteed together with caramelized beets on top.  It was pretty tasty and I was happy to use some new ingredients! 

After dinner we went to the "apple park" to hang out for a while

My two favorite people

And the cheesecake turned out pretty well...

YUM

He spent the rest of the weekend on a hiking trip to the Blair Creek section of the Ozark Trail.  It was his perfect way to spend his birthday weekend.