Twas the Night Before Christmas: In Other Words It Was Troy's Birthday

John and Troy and Troy's mom Esther drove down from Colorado, arriving late on the night of December 23. December 24th is Troy's birthday so of course we had a birthday party. The rest of the kids didn't fly in until after dinner on the 24th (as luck would have it they were on the same connecting flight from Dallas) so it was the five of us for Troy's birthday dinner.

Before dinner we (and by we I do not mean me as I can take no credit) got started on a 1000-piece puzzle. Spoiler: the puzzle was successfully completed before everybody went home. Esther led the way and inspired the other puzzlers.

For her 34th birthday, Troy put in her usual cake request: cheesecake. This lactose intolerant lover of all things cheese came supplied with Lactaid so we let the dairy flow! I made a no-bake cheesecake with Greek yogurt.

After cake and presents we tried to take a group birthday picture. In doing so we learned that turning 34 does not necessarily mean a person can keep a straight face for a group selfie. As an example, see above photo.

It took many attempts before we (and by we I mean Troy) finally got it under control so here we have our one and only straight-face birthday group selfie. Luckily it only takes one!