30 Celebrations

We had some great 30th birthday celebrations. They just kept on going. We started early on July 5th, with a big 4th of July/birthday bash. Uncle Bill pulled out all the stops with a roast lamb. Roasting a lamb on a spit has been an Benac family tradition for the past 60 years. Joe's grandpa is originally from Croatia, where lamb roasts are part of life. It seemed a little ironic not to have a lamb from out in the country (Bill got it in a downtown Dallas butcher shop) but all the same, it was delicious. Somehow between the carving table and the serving table, only about half of the meat was left.It was great to have a big group of family together. Several Benac cousins came, as well as married-on extended family. We also made some great new friends, since both Bethany and Katie brought some friends. On top of all that family, Lenore and Sean Robinson were visiting from Hawaii. Lenore and Joe go way back. They were in the same ward and high school together, back in 1993. There are some fun stories from back then, but they would need their own post!We enjoyed the pool, good food, each others company, and of course the lake. We love to take our old beater boat to the middle, and jump off the boat for a good swim. I don't think we've ever had that many people in the lake in one dayAnd the boat is good for fishing too!
Of course we celebrated on my actual birthday Saturday. As a family we went to the movie theater, and that night Joe pulled together my greatest birthday dinner surprise. Earlier in the day I had nonchalantly told Joe that all I wanted for my birthday was to go out to dinner with my friends the Morphises and Sparks. It was a long shot, because the Sparks were just driving back from Florida that day. They showed how much they love me by coming home, and running right back out the door for dinner with us. We also had the bonus attendance of cousin Annie from New York.We had dinner at my new favorite restaurant. It's a Thai restaurant called "noodle wave". I'd only been to the other location in McKinney, and when we got to the little strip mall where the restaurant is located, we weren't sure if it was safe to get out of the car. However, the restaurant is very nicely decorated inside, of course the food was delicious, and the company even better. It's so great to be surrounded by people who love me, and accept me for all that I am.

Finally we had our traditional birthday dinner at mom's house on Sunday. She made wonderful roast beef, and we had delicious red velvet cake for desert.