Birthday Weekend

Ok, Ok...I know I'm a little late on updating, but after this post I should be all up to date.  I really had a great birthday.  I know that as I get older that birthdays really just aren't the same any more; but this year my dad, Nola, Brayden and Jenna all came up to Ohio to come celebrate with me!  It was their first time to come visit us in Ohio; yes, that's right it took them just about THREE years to come visit me and they fly free!!  :)  It's ok, I'm so glad they came and we had such a great time.  It all started with me getting to leave work early on Friday!  WooHoo!!  That alone could have made my weekend :)  But I was lucky and my weekend continued with greatness.  I left work at about noon and went straight to the airport to pick up Nola and Jenna  (Dad and Brayden got stuck and ended up on a later flight).  Then us girls went out for lunch at Penn Station, our favorite sandwich place here in Cleveland...YUM!  We came back to my place and just talked and hung out until we got the call from Dad.  Then I left to go pick them up.  To continue with the Dill family tradition for dinner  we had pizza.  We enjoyed Donato's Pizza...our favorite pizza place in Ohio.  Even Jenna enjoyed a little bite :)

Happy Jenna:  She hardly fussed at all the whole time!

Josh came home late Friday night then we all went to bed.  Saturday was suppose to be our fun day of adventure in Cleveland, but the weather rained us out.  It pretty much rained all day.  We drove up to Lake Erie and just drove by because it was raining so hard.  Then we went off to Brandywine Falls.  It was still pouring and we all got soaked, but it was fun and worth it.  Josh and I have been there several times and have never seen the waterfall so full; I guess there is an upside to going while it's raining.

Here is Brayden in the "rock cave:"

Brayden & Dad:

Then we went on to Amish Country.  By that time it was a little late in the day so we didn't get to see too much as they close at 5pm.  But what we were able to see and do was pretty cool.  We stopped at a furniture store....BEAUTIFUL!  Their woodworking is AMAZING...and expensive :)  Then as we were driving into the town we saw a free petting zoo; so we stopped and finished our tour of Amish Country there.  Brayden loved all the animals.  And we all had a great time at their stores and even with the animals.

This horse was HUGE!  If I remember correctly, it weighed 3000 lbs!

So they had this GIANT rocking chair outside.  It you can't tell by my face, I was a little freaked out sitting in it.  It totally feels like you are going to fall and flip backwards.

After Amish country, Dad ad Nola took us out for a birthday dinner at LongHorn Steakhouse.  It was pretty good, but we were all sooo exhausted by our long day.  By the time we got home, we were all ready to go to bed.

We went to church on Sunday then went to Kirtland.  We didn't stay at Kirtland for too long and the kids were ready to go, but it was fun to go.  Josh left from there to go back to New York.  When we got home, my dad grilled some hamburgers and I made some corn on the cob!  It was yummy!

They left early Monday morning.  It was a short trip, but I am so thankful they came.  It was nice to be able to show them around a little and really just to see them.  Thanks Dad & Nola!

Just so that I am totally caught up now,  Josh came back this weekend as well.  I have been very fortunate that we got to see each other every weekend this month!  I won't be that lucky next month :(  This last Saturday, we went down to the Columbus Temple.  It was an amazing experience to be able to do sealings for family names, including my great grandparents.  We didn't really have a chance to do anything special for Easter. We just went to church, came home, ate hot dogs then Josh left to go back up to New York to finish his month out there.  But Happy Easter to everyone!