Today is my dad’s birthday. He and I are pretty close. We’ve always had a really good relationship (I *am* daddy’s little girl, after all!), and it’s just gotten better since I’ve gotten older. Now that I live more than an hour away from my parents, we have more phone conversations, and I enjoy every time I talk to him.

Last Saturday, we celebrated my dad’s birthday at my grandparents’ house. We get together for all the family birthdays, and it’s always a great time. This year we were missing Ryan, Oriona and Harry, but my grandma was back from her stay at a local nursing home where she’s recovering from a fall, so it was a nice family day.

I made the birthday cake, as I always do, and to try something different, I went with an orange cake. I made orange-flavored frosting and put orange wedges on the top. It turned out *really* well.

After lunch, my grandparents got to spend a little time together before Joe, Randy and I took my grandma back to the nursing home. We got some pictures of them, and I’m glad we did because they’re some of the sweetest pictures I’ve seen.

So, happy birthday, Dad! Here’s to many, many more!