Birthday's and Dominoes

so i had to share a few things going on in the last couple weeks. it has been a busy busy few weeks, but so much fun. July was definitely the month for birthdays and celebrations :)

my uncle bob turned 50! big time - yay! Happy birthday uncle bob! his sweet wife angela put together a full day of events for him and our family and friends. it was such a wonderful time, and she couldn't have planned the day better. everyone truly enjoyed it, and more importantly the birthday boy was so happy! the boys started off the day playing golf. and by starting out the day i mean a crack of dawn tee time - 6am. they all had a blast and the shanking of golf balls was kept to a minimum. then we all got ready for a wonderful dinner at a cute little Italian restaurant in Moore called "Banchettos" (pic below). it was really yummy. after dinner we all went and saw The Amazing Spiderman in 3D at Warren Theater. it was such a good movie, by far my fave of the spidermans.

the birthday crew...

ryan and i enjoying bob's birthday party...love my hubby. im so lucky.

the yummy birthday cake from cheesecake factory - peanut butter cup cheesecake. it was seriously amazing. if you haven't had it, it is a must! the best part about this picture is bob and his "50 attire". his wife angela (in the background) made him wear it proudly :) hehe. he enjoyed it.

one of my BFF's, Kelli, also had a birthday on July 5th :) Happy birthday to one amazing bestie. i am so blessed to have such a great friend. she is truly wonderful. we celebrated with dinner on lake hefner at Mama Rojas. it was my first time to eat there and i have to say it is now my new favorite mexican restaurant!



The first week of july we celebrated ryan's nephew, Konnor's, birthday with a family dinner at Los Dos Amigos - one of his favorite restaurants. it was so much fun! ryan and i love family time, and i am so lucky to have the most amazing in-laws. blessings! the best part was Konnor wearing the sombrero and the singing. every middle-schoolers most embarrassing moment. at that age, being cool is a must. love it.

first comes the hat....

then comes the singing....



then one of my dearest, greatest, long-time family friends, Anissa, turned 21 this week (July 11th)....and we had to celebrate with a lemonada! Such a sweet girl and so glad we got to celebrate.

we rounded of our wednesday evening last night with a good ole domino game of "Mexican Train" with my sweet grandparents. we love playing this game as a family, it is such a blast. grandpa fixed us salmon, sweet potatoes, and veggies to start...then the competition began.

serious competition going on....grandpa's move.

and my winning hand finished off the two hour long competition....grandma looks as if she thinks maybe she has the winning hand :) hehe. love my sweet grandma.

a few people have asked me how to play this domino game of Mexican Train, so i thought i would share the "how to"...click here to learn how to play. Note : we use the double 9 domino as our first play. the instructions say to use the double 12 domino to start the game. this is not a requirement...you can just use the highest number you have in your set.

because i love to include random things in my posts, i had to share a "must have" item of the week, which i have to purchase. Christine Rorabaugh, a good friend, suggested this item for me as a must have....duh...due to my love of horses :) She knows my obsession. This is a super cute horseshoe charm necklace from Stella and Dot. Christine sells Stella and Dot jewerly, so if you are intereted in purchasing or having a party (to get free jewelry) contact her. The parties are a blast.

and because i love my horses....i had to end the post with a sweet picture of miss Ivy (Ivy League) getting her bath. she LOVES the water.



XOXO The Stephens