Pics from Laura's Birthday

My baby sister, Laura, turned 18 last week.

Even though my family is spread out all over SoCal now, we were all able to get together to celebrate Louly.

It was a wonderful night.

Momma B, Kate, Jesse and I drove together, and met the rest of the gang at Sisley.  It was fun to go there again, because when we were really little, Sisley was the traditional Mueller family meeting place for birthdays, since there was one located between my grandparents, my uncle and aunt, and my family.  I hadn't been to a Sisley in about 15 years.  I was giddily trying to fill Jesse in on the family tradition when I realized that I don't remember much about it.  I just remember that we always got the private room in the big Italian restaurant so that Papa Chuck could hear all of us better.  I remember the never-ending breadsticks, the funny plastic cups kids' drinks came in, and the colorful fountains outside of the restaurant.  I remember praying as a family around the big table--everyone holding hands--and peeking through squinted eyes to see if Papa's eyes were closed during prayer.  They never were, and he always winked at me.  When we prayed together on Laura's birthday, the sweet/painful memory swept over me, and I missed Papa's smiling blue eyes.

Our reunion with Sisley was a wonderful way to celebrate Laura's birthday.  Now that we're all so spread out, we've learned not to take family time for granted.  What a blessing this amazing family is to me!

 

Around the table L-R: My mom, Laura (18), Dad, Kate (20), Megan (Jon's beautiful girl whom we all love and adore), Jon (22), Uncle Todd, me, and my handsome Jesse.  Momma B (Jesse's mom) took the picture.  ♥

When glasses of red wine were passed around the table, our wonderful waitress brought in complimentary glasses of cranberry juice for the mommy-to-be and the under-age birthday girl.  How sweet is that?

We were excited to get to toast with the rest of the gang :-)

Opening presents

Jesse and I were very excited about our gift to Laura--pretty diamonds for the pretty girl.

(Jesse picked it out--didn't he do a good job?  It looked beautiful on her!)

Amaaaaaaazing tiramisu

What a wonderful night of laughter and love.

I'm so thankful for this family!

Happy birthday, Lou!