Spring Birthday Celebration

Bethany's birthday celebration day was one of the first really lovely spring days that we've had. The skies were brilliantly blue with puffy, white clouds whooshing past, a lovely breeze, and the faint promise of warming temperatures ahead. Since she loves spring so much, I was very grateful the day was such a beautiful one!

A birthday party in the midst of illness is challenging, but we all pitched in together to make it happen. I did the easy tasks: marinating the chicken, arranging the flowers (click

here

 for that post), and setting the table. This was a one-dish meal served in our wobbly-edged pasta bowls we love so much (click

here

), so we used dinner plates as chargers.

Tall goblets were for the adults and short glasses for the little ones. I kept the color palette very neutral, so the spring flowers would stand out as a bright pop of color. I assembled a vase full of the same blooms for the birthday girl to take home with her.

It felt

wonderful

to all be together again! Even though they don't live far away, their family went through one bout of illness after another all winter, people have traveled, and I've been sick, so it had been nearly three months since we've all been gathered at our home.

Carson and the kids were

overjoyed

to see each other again! I

love

 it when kids and dogs are happily running and playing and everyone's chattering in the kitchen!

Julia and Dave did all the cooking. Bethany requested one of our family favorites, Half Baked Harvest's 20 Minute Grilled Jerk Chicken with Mango-Nectarine Salsa over Coconut Rice. It's a flavor explosion of sweet, savory, and spicy -- SO fresh! Click

here

 for the chicken recipe. And click

here

 for the rice recipe contained within a different chicken recipe. The rice recipe may,

quite possibly

, change your life!

We all feel like this is the "start of the season" for this meal. We'll enjoy it from now through the summer, and undoubtedly conclude its fresh, spring-summery goodness with it being requested for Julia's birthday celebration in September.

After dinner, it was present opening time. Bethany was thrilled with more white pieces for her kitchen from her sister.

And Dave, as a labor of love, made a "Little Free Library" for our author daughter. It was made to match their own home, and he spent many nights and weekends constructing it and cutting all the clapboards and shingles down to scale. Someday soon he will mount it in their yard, she'll register it with the "Little Free Library" (click

here

for more information), and she'll fill it with worthwhile books for other to enjoy.

Birthday cake time! Twenty-eight candles for our kindhearted, endlessly creative, nurturing daughter who blesses our family daily with her love and care!

If you missed the cake recipe, for our favorite, decadently rich, chocolate cake, click

here

.