Monday, September 26, 2016

Game Day Birthday Party and Slow-Cooker Chili


Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you! 

Thank-you for stopping by! 


I'm sure many of you are football fans
and here in Seattle our '12th man' fans
are legendary. 


The fans inside our football stadium
are so loud that they
actually register on seismographs 
used to monitor earthquakes in the region! 


My two sons always get season tickets
to our local football team, 
The Seattle Seahawks. 


For the season opener game, (which was 'away')
 my Daughter-in-law, Jen hosted a special birthday party for 
my youngest son, Dustin.

She did a wonderful job! Aren't these brownies so cute?

Hard to believe my youngest is now 34! 
He's still a big kid at heart, though!  


Here he is in his official 'man cave' upstairs,
where he shows his true loyalty as a fan. 





All things 'Seahawks' rule here!


Lucky enjoys hanging out with 'the boys'. 

His nickname is 'Big Chief'. 

This cat has personality plus, and 
nobody messes with him :) 


Helmet and football for impromptu 
touch football games. 


 Some favorite fan photos with family and friends .....
Dustin and Jen are in the middle photo :)


Skittles are a fan favorite. 


Of course, you must have a Seahawks cooler, too! 



A life-size wall decal of Russell Wilson, 
a 'bobble-head' doll and dollar bill! 


The game begins! 


I head back to neutral territory downstairs........

Dustin and Jen are newlyweds who have been 
working very hard to remodel their 1980's style home. 

They just installed beautiful new floors, painted the walls, 
and are having new trim and windows installed 
before remodeling their outdated kitchen. 


Big Chief looks out the new French doors
(minus trim) at the neighbor pup standing
on the bench with his head inside a bucket of
water :)

It's those little moments in life that 
truly make you smile. 


Dustin holds Big Chief while Jen looks on. 



He is showing me the new brick walkway that he 
just installed himself.......


And the woodshed he just built. 

Good job, Dustin! 

It's so gratifying to see your children
grow up to value home and family. 

I'll tell you, when they are teenagers
you sometimes have doubts. 
You just have to have faith........
and plenty of love :)


Jen made a delicious crock-pot chili 
for half-time. 
Her secret ingredients were green peppers
and mild chicken sausage. Yum!

I made some tiny cornbread muffins to go with. 

Here's a link for some Slow-Cooker Chili Favorites


The cake.....


Make a wish! 

Wishing you a wonderful year, my son! 


Opening gifts. 


Daughter-in-law, Erica takes sweet grandson, Ethan
for a stroll in his Russell Wilson jersey. 

I can't get enough of those chubby cheeks <3


Father and son, Gabe and Ethan, 
enjoy the game together. 

Both of my sons live in the same neighborhood
and are in the same profession - computers. 

Gabe is with Microsoft and Dustin runs his own business. 

I am glad that they are so close. 
When they were boys they fought
like cats and dogs :) 

Typical brothers.....


Son-in-law, and soon to be new Dad, Eric watches the game. 


The siblings...

Jennie, Gabe, Heather (soon to be new Mom) and Dustin. 
They are very close, not only in age, (5 years 
between eldest and youngest) but also in spirit. 

We are truly blessed. 

xoxo

"Siblings: Children of the same parents, each of whom
is perfectly normal until they get together."
- Sam Levenson - 


"What can you do to promote world peace?
Go home and love your family."
- Mother Teresa -

"The strength of a nation derives
from the integrity of the home."
- Confucius -

xoxo

Today I am linking with: 


Join Monday's Link Up Party @ Julie's Creative Lifestyle!

26 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday to Dustin! They have done a wonderful job of decorating their new home haven't they, it all looks great. Glad you all had a good time at the party! xx

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  2. What a wonderful birthday tribute to Dustin! I love all the pictures you took. It was a wonderful day and loved spending time with everyone.

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  3. Hello, wonderful photos of your family. Happy Birthday to your son. The chili and the brownies all look good to me. Fun party! Happy Monday, enjoy your new week!

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  4. Many happy birthday wishes to Dustin.

    Lovely photo's of your family, it's so nice when you can spend time with family, and build more happy memories.

    All the best Jan

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  5. Family get-togethers are fun no matter what the reason. "Happy Birthday to Dustin. He really resembles the Ramblin' Man. Love the last photo. :)

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  6. Looks like everyone is having a wonderful get together! Happy Birthday Dustin! The man cave looks great, and obviously a favourite hangout. That's a great shot of everyone at the end ... you have lots to be proud of!
    Wendy x

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  7. We are Seahawk fans across the border near Portland, Oregon, but you have us beat in your team spirit! The party looked like fun. Loving family is rewarding... I really appreciate Mother Teresa's quote about world peace! xx

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  8. You have a beautiful family, Karen, and Happy Birthday to Dustin. It looks like the party was a success and their home is beautiful. The quotes that you shared were inspirational and I thank you for them. Have a wonderful week, sweet friend.

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  9. What a wonderful post, Karen, and such a wonderful family! I am all about family and I get a special thrill and a little teary when i hear my boys say I love you to each other:)
    We are not a football family, but I can sure appreciate all the cute touches for the party. happy birthday to you youngest!

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  10. Your family sure has some wonderful parties and get-togethers...so thoughtful, creative, and personal...I love seeing them! Beautiful home!

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  11. Finally doing some catching up dear Friend! Love this & all of the clever ideas!! You have such a beautiful family. Love seeing it grow too. So fun! Blessings Karen & have a great week!

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  12. Happay belated Birthday to Dustin :O)
    Dearest KAren, you did such a great Birthdayparty for Dustin, I love the way, you always do those Parties :O)
    Wishing you a happy week, sending Love and Hugs and Blessings to you, my dear friend,
    Claudia xo

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  13. Lovely post, Karen. You sound like such a tight knit family and that is wonderful. And a growing family to boot!

    I agree that when our children are young we wonder if they will all get along when they are older, will the find follow their dreams and have jobs that make them happy? I know you are a proud mama. Time together is so precious, I know you know!

    Jane

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  14. What a good looking Son you have. I bet you spoiled him. He did a great job on the walkway. That football plate is so cute. never saw one before.
    Well The Season is here, have a fun time cheering on your team. Yvonne

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  15. Belated birthday wishes to Dustin. A wonderful family get together creating some great memories to cherish.

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  16. Beautiful family! I love your quotes. There is truly NOTHING like family. Birthday wishes to your son. Your DIL did a wonderful job with the buffet table, so cute and so appropriate for the birthday guy! Have a wonderful day.

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  17. Belated Happy Birthday wishes to Dustin.

    What great photos of your celebration and family. Wonderful to see so much love and happiness, and good food to eat too.

    Happy Fall ~ FlowerLady

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  18. Too cute, my friend! It looks like your family had a wonderful time together and may I say Happy belated Birthday to your son.

    Love and hugs to you!

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  19. Happy Birthday to your son, Dustin. His man cave is cool, and I like the blue color of the team. My son's been watching the football games also, and here we have a little team called The Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers hahaha. Wonderful teams in California. All that wood piled up!....that will be so nice to have during the cold winter months. The crock-pot-chili looks so delicious, and the "jersey cake" is delightful.

    What a great day spent with your family, Karen. And I still think Gabe looks like Tim McGraw, so handsome. :) Enjoy the football games!

    ~Sheri

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  20. I'm certainly not a sports fan but I love their enthusiasm! :) Your son's family room looks great with all the Seahawks memorabilia and the party theme looks so fun. It is amazing how they grow up 'all of a sudden' and take on responsibilities etc. We though it would never happen with our son but finding a good wife sure helped! :) xo Pam

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  21. Creativity just seems to run in your family! Love the Seahawks man-cave.

    The brick path was really nicely done by the birthday boy. There is something about garden paths that just reach out and grab my attention and admiration.

    Marilyn (in Dallas)
    Go Cowboys! :-) I just had to throw that in there. ;-)

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  22. Dear Karen,

    Happy belated birthday to Dustin and looks like a wonderful birthday celebration with your family. He is doing an amazing job with the brick path and so handy when he can do the work himself.
    Have a lovely week
    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  23. Dearest Karen,
    Happy belated birthday to your baby-boy Dustin!
    Looks like he had a very special Birthday party indeed.
    Both, Pieter and I are now living here for over 33 years and have never managed to 'worship' sports like the natives seem to do! Guess for that you have to grow up here and grow literally into it. It is such a religion here and you have to know those special dates for not mistakenly plan anything else... That I've learned too.
    Sending you hugs,
    Mariette

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  24. Karen, you have done a great job bringing up your kids. It is so true you can't judge how they are as teenagers, I have seen it over and over again how much they can change in just a few years time. They have made a wonderful home for themselves and have kept busy putting their own touch to it. Wow now that is a cool man cave, bet he really enjoys that! Looks like it was a fun day to celebrate!

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  25. You must have been very busy when your children were little... It's nice to see that all your work paid off now that they are happy adults!

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  26. Wow! Looks like you had a great time! :)

    I would love for you to share this with my Facebook Group for recipes, crafts, tips, and tricks: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/

    Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!

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Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are important to me and are very much appreciated. xx Karen

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