Stephan's birthday weekend

Stephan's birthday weekend went really well. It was our first time we celebrated his birthday together. Last year he was in Germany for his birthday, and I was in Ontario. Friday was the actual day. After work I gave him his birthday present, a set of German beer glasses he had seen at the Edelweiss store that he wanted. I also bought him a little German flag for the car, or to hang up in the house since soccer was just starting. And I got him a German magazine he enjoys reading.Later in the evening, we went to the German Club for a buffet dinner with some friends, and then downstairs for our usual Friday-night-table-tennis. Carole had baked Stephan a blackforest cake for his birthday, as a surprise we had organized for him. He had no knowledge of this surprise cake when he asked me to bake a 2nd cheesecake on Thursday night. So he had 2 birthday cakes. It was a wonderful evening with friends.

My homemade traditional German cheesecake

Some of our Table-tennis group

On Saturday, Stephan got his favourite breakfast: pancakes, on which he spreads applesauce and sugar. I did some cleaning, laundry and prepping for dinner. And then we headed out to Spruce Meadows to watch the National CN Reliability Grand Prix. Showjumping, olympic riders. My dream since I was 10. Ian Millar wasn't competing that day, but his son Johnathon was there as well as other riders I've grown up watching like Rodrigo Pessoa, Eric Lamaze, Beezie Madden and Jill Henselwood. Eric Lamaze won (Canadian)! I got some pretty good pics, of EVERY rider. Multiple pics. Yes, I took like 100 pictures of the horses. But is anyone surprised?

Rodrigo Pessoa (Brazil) on HH Rebozo

Johnathon Millar (Canadian-son of IAN MILLAR!) on Contino 14

After the show was over, we went home and I got dinner in the oven. Johnny and Rachel came over to celebrate Stephan's birthday. They gave him a gift card for Home Depot, since Stephan had to buy some tools for work. Johnny remembered this from a past conversation. We both thought it was very thoughtful, and were touched by the gesture. Stephan and Johnny really seem to get along well. For dinner we had tea biscuits, rouladen, spaetzle, carrots, salad and, of course, the other german cheesecake I had made. Johnny has ordered 30 of them for his 30th birthday in October.

Sunday was a lazy day. I came home from church and choir practice. Stephan watched Germany's soccer game. Then we went to buy his tools, after which we went for a drive exploring. We ended up checking out the olympic park where the ski jump was. We sat on the hill and had a beautiful view of the city and mountains. The weather was perfect, 26 and sunny. It was a perfect way to end the weekend.

You can see the mountains in the distance, on the horizon.