Week of Luke

Luke turned 14 on Wednesday, but we've been celebrating all week!  It started on Monday when Bob took him and Jonathan skiing in Pennsylvania.  It's a bit of a drive to Hidden Valley, but you can't beat the deal on Mondays and Tuesdays--lift ticket, rental, and a lesson for $32!!  Bob took them, plus Nathan, back in January, and they went snowboarding, but this time they stuck with skiing.  (Nathan didn't want to miss another Spanish class, and Caleb just doesn't like the cold, LOL.)  It was a beautiful day, weather-wise, and they had a grand time.

On Luke's actual birthday, I had a doctor's appointment at Bethesda at 3:00, and I didn't get home until 5:00.  I knew it would be later, so I had already planned on having Luke's special birthday dinner on Thursday.  Instead, Bob brought home tacos from Taco Bell, definitely a special treat--especially since Bob got some (6) of the "loco tacos" with the Doritos shells.  Yum!  I had never tried one of them before!  Bob got three 12-packs, and we polished them all off.  Teenage boys . . .

We have sort of started a new birthday tradition back with Caleb of going to Wegmans and picking out special ice cream for everyone.  Luke didn't really want to go out Wednesday night, so he delegated his picking responsibility to the girls, who are always up for a trip to Wegmans with Daddy!  They (and Micah) came back with a ton of different flavors to choose from!

Thursday we actually had Luke's requested birthday dinner of chicken packets, which is an old recipe from my "Once-A-Month Cooking" cookbook, which I definitely used to own but can no longer find.  Good thing I copied it into a recipe book my brother gave me one year for Christmas a long time ago!  We also had a special salad and kale chips (and more ice cream for dessert).

Then today for Bible study Luke picked a veritable smorgasbord of dessert goodness--candy bar cheesecake (chocolate with snickers), Air Force dessert (which includes cookies & cream ice cream), and chocolate-covered strawberries.  YUM!  I left some strawberries un-dipped, and I made some chocolate-covered pretzels with the last little bit of chocolate.  We brought home with us about 1/3 of the cheesecake.  Everything was gone!  Of course, there were over 20 kids there, plus adults . . .

So we have had a fun week of celebrating Luke.  My parents gave Luke a gun safety course at a local range, and Bob is going to take him shooting there as part of our present.  Fun! 

It's hard to believe Luke is 14!  He is a great older brother--he definitely has a gift with little kids.  He's an excellent student, and he is also a great athlete.  He just was notified tonight that he was picked to be on the all-star basketball team!  He has to miss their first practice on Tuesday, though, because he has now also joined Civil Air Patrol, and he needs to pass a drill test then so he can get promoted. 

Now you are caught up on Luke!