Birthday Wishes to Our Son & Granddaughter

Today is what's called a 'double blessing.'  45 years ago today our youngest [and last] child [a son] came into this world.  What a blessing Jeremy has been to our family.  And 19 years ago today, our daughter-in-law, Samantha, gave Jeremy the greatest birthday present he's ever received, when she gave birth to Isabella - who we affectionately call Izzy.

We couldn't be in Zeeland today for the double celebration [although Jeremy prefers for the emphasis to be on Izzy's birthday], so I'm sharing a photo Jeremy posted on Facebook earlier today.

Jerry and I went to Michigan State University on Thursday [where Izzy is a sophomore] to take her to lunch for her birthday. 

[Izzy and Papa]

We let her pick the restaurant and she chose Bravo! Italian Kitchen.  It was a very good choice.

We all got something different.  Izzy ordered Fettuccine Alfredo, Jerry ordered Eggplant Parmesan and I ordered Chicken Marsala.  Everything was delicious.  My entree came with mashed potatoes but they let me substitute sweet potatoes.  I had never had roasted sweet potatoes cubes before, but they were SO good and so were the roasted green beans.  I was almost finished eating [hence the messy plate, sorry!] when it dawned on me that I needed a picture for recreating them at home. As soon as we dropped Izzy off at her dorm I began searching on my phone for recipes, and found several.  After work on Friday I stopped by the produce market and bought some sweet potatoes and made them for our dinner.   Yummy and so healthy!  

For dessert the birthday girl ordered Molten Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Bean Gelato.

Jerry and I each got Tiramisu ~

It was a lovely afternoon with Izzy and we look forward to going to Zeeland soon to have a belated celebration with Jeremy.  We invited him to join us for lunch in East Lansing but grandson, Landon, had a 4:30 football game that Jeremy was coaching so it wasn't doable. Landon is a quarterback and they won their game 37-14.

In closing, our prayers are with the countless people impacted by hurricane Helene in Florida, Georgia, North & South Carolina, Alabama and Tennessee.  Such tragic devastation.