Jana J.'s Murder Mystery Birthday Party

On Saturday, October 10, JB and I attended a surprise birthday party/murder mystery for our sister-in-law Jana J., who hit a milestone birthday on that day. It may not be my place to divulge the exact number, but suffice to say I am one year and one week older than her.

(Incidentally, yes, I had a birthday last week. Didn't need to post about it this year, though JB definitely spoiled me with a trip out for sushi and a few gifts. I spent much of the day and the weekend watching general conference on TV. It was wonderful, as always.)

Jana J.'s daughters, Kylee and McKenna, put everything together for the murder mystery: the invitations, the plot and character assignments, the props, the snacks, etc. We assembled at The Barn, a Jackson family favorite location in Layton, for this special occasion. Most of the invitees were the birthday girl's siblings and spouses, along with her parents and a few close friends.

The theme for this murder mystery was "Murder at the Juice Joint," and it was set at a speakeasy in Chicago in the Prohibition era/1920s. We all dressed up accordingly and tried to act out our characters as well, accents and all.

It had been many years since either JB or I had participated in a murder mystery event, and we were grateful to be included. I was assigned to play private detective P.I. Pinkerton, while JB assumed the role of celebrity filmmaker Harper Hollywood.

The rest of the cast was rounded out by crooked and quirky politicans, officers of the law, employees of the Juice Joint, and of course gangsters, among others.

Kylee and McKenna were pretty clever with the props. For example, this ashtray and cigarettes (when in Rome—or Chicago, I guess?) were actually broken up Oreo cookies and pretzel sticks dipped in vanilla chocolate:

Sadly, the money, used for bribes and such, was also fake.

Toward the end of the evening, the real killer was revealed. We also voted on best actor and favorite costume (Summer), and there was also an award for the person who accumulated the most (fake) cash (our 18-year-old nephew Jackson).

We had wonderful evening together, but most importantly, Jana J. had a great birthday. We'll have to do it again next year, or another time very soon.

Easter 2026

Easter weekend this year came and went, as it is wont to, with lots and lots of candy. Also, in our case, a few family gatherings. And, as a bonus, general conference on both Saturday and Sunday. We pretty much had the perfect weekend.

On Saturday, we went out to Grantsville for our two-year-old nephew William's second birthday party. Together with most of JB's side of the family, we enjoyed hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and dip, and a delicious peanut butter and chocolate cake that Nicole made for the occasion.

William received a number of gifts, including a harmonica from us. He was not able (yet) to make music with his new instrument, due to being two years old and not having the lung power to blow into it. But he enjoyed dancing along to the music that came from it. And he also loved playing with the balloons that were there.

On Sunday morning, we awoke to find that the Easter Bunny had visited both JB and me, and he had been generous with his offerings. We then gathered with the Plowman side for general conference breakfast at Biz's and Jeff's home in West Bountiful. There were pancakes, bubble buns, fresh fruit, and myriad breakfast casseroles to choose from.

The conference messages all weekend, and especially Sunday morning, were wonderful. It was a blessing to participate remotely in the solemn assembly, raising the right hand to sustain our new prophet, Dallin H. Oaks, and to receive his counsel from the pulpit.

Later that afternoon, we were joined by JB's parents for Easter dinner at our house. The menu included pork loin roast, Lion House rolls, baked potatoes, and carrot cake for dessert.

William's First Birthday Party

On Friday, April 4th, we celebrated our nephew William's first birthday at his home in Grantsville. We had cake and all of the goodies. Here is the birthday boy, with his birthday cupcake (which he later tore to shreds, as a one-year-old must do):

One of William's favorite people is his cousin Spencer:

And then people began inhaling the helium, and, well, see for yourself:

Improvables: Christmas Party 2023

Members of the Improvables improv troupe gathered together on Saturday, December 16, for our annual Christmas party and white elephant exchange. It's been a rough year for us, having lost our beloved friend and colleague Megan in August. Her absence was felt at this holiday party. But we also feel she would've wanted us to carry on, be happy, and enjoy each other's company, and that is what we did.

Jamie and Tanner hosted at their lovely home in Taylorsville. It was a very foggy evening, but still the majority of the troupe members found their way there. The food was delectable, and the company was even better.

Always one of the highlights of the Christmas season, our white elephant gift exchange was another memorable one. I might be a bit biased, but one of the noteworthy gifts contributed (by yours truly) was a pair of Pickle-as Cage (get it?) tree ornaments. There were bobbleheads, clothes, toys, and other goodies for young and older alike.

Perhaps our collective favorite was a box of approximately 200 odd-sized grey beanies, given together as one gift in a large box. (You had to be there.) There were enough beanies to go around that we all posed for the above picture.

Mom's 80th Birthday Party

On Monday, June 5, my beloved mother hit a milestone, turning 80 years old. (I think that fact makes both her and me as her second-oldest child feel old, but such is the passage of time. We're all trying to enjoy every day and roll with the many different things that each new day brings us.)

As a family, we gathered at one of our favorite restaurants—and site of no fewer than four family wedding dinners—Joy Luck. It was a surprise party for Mom, who was expecting dinner with only Steve and Summer and their kids. (No one let the cat out of the bag accidentally, so mission accomplished!)

The delicious Chinese food was plentiful, and it included Peking spare ribs, sweet and sour chicken, chicken lo mein, egg rolls, ham fried and white rice, and the like. We ate family style, because we are a family after all (29 people altogether, missing only one person who was home sick).

Mom's only wish for her birthday this year was to spend time with her kids and grandkids, so that is what we gave her. In return, she has given us so much more over the course of her 80+ decades of life.

June 5 is also our niece McKenna Kathleen's birthday, who's now 20 years old and finished with the terrible teens. So, we had a double birthday party all told.

Groundhog Day 2023

For the first time in three years, our annual Groundhog Day party was held once again in person! (Thanks, COVID.) We gathered at Steve's and Summer's home in North Salt Lake for the occasion last weekend.

The year 2023 marks the 30th anniversary of one of our favorite movies. Yep, it's really been that long, and I'm officially "old" now. When the movie came out in 1993, I even reviewed it for the school newspaper. Since then, we've more or less held a Groundhog Day party every February, with few exceptions. During COVID, we've just told people to go ahead and watch it on your own at home.

Anyhow, the last time we met in person—which was three years ago—COVID wasn't even a word in our vocabularies, and nearly three-year-old Sadie (pictured here) hadn't even been born yet:

The treats last Saturday were plentiful and included goodies like Jenni's "Groundhog Dung" chocolate balls, which fortunately tasted nothing like actual dung (not that I'd know what that sounds like, just ... you know what I mean):

While the kids colored and played together, the grownups watched the movie. Well, sort of. We kind of did both things together and at the same time.

Seven-year-old Danny also proudly showed off the comic book he created and, I think he did a great job on it. I was not all that different from him at the same age, creating comic books of my own when I was a kid.

In Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, meanwhile, the real Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, which means six more weeks of winter. Or six more weeks until spring. I'm not sure which. Either way, we were glad to be gathered together with family and good friends for one of the year's best holidays.

Improvables: Christmas Party 2021

The Improvables' annual Christmas party took place Wednesday night. It was good to be able to meet up in person this year with our ugly sweaters in plain sight after having had to use Zoom to meet up in 2020 (just like many other social events, but I don't need to tell you that; you remember those days). The snacks were plentiful and included delicious pizza, chips, churros, meatballs, and other goodies.

I made out like a bandit (I guess?) in the white elephant gift exchange, walking away with this very unique coloring book:

(JB and I agreed we wouldn't be adding this coloring book to our cache of coloring books for when the niblings come over to visit.) Speaking of whom, JB was the envy of many '90s kids when she ended up with this Tamagotchi:

Surprise Birthday Party

I had another birthday this weekend. In spite of my best efforts, they keep happening each year. Such is life.

Anyhow, my wonderful wife organized a surprise party for me when I returned home from work Friday night. She had invited my mom and siblings and their spouses over for a karaoke party, something I've wanted to do since the Karaoke Cafe closed a few years ago (the place where my birthday parties used to be held, and also, not coincidentally, the site of JB's and my first date).

In addition to inviting the guests and providing the refreshments, JB also baked us a chocolate and peanut butter cake for everyone to enjoy together (one of my favorite creations of hers).

I got to spend the rest of the weekend being instructed by the living prophets, seers, and revelators of the Church at another amazing general conference. Earlier today, we went out to Grantsville to watch the Sunday afternoon session with JB's parents and some of her siblings/niblings, for which she made us even more cake.

I'm enormously blessed with great people in my life, and as cruddy as the year 2020 has been, I'm looking forward to what the next year may bring.

Spencer's Graduation Party

Our nephew Spencer graduated from Viewmont High School last week. There was a graduation party for him Thursday night at Smoot Park in Centerville, and of course you know that meant that the Fun Aunt and Uncle were there to help party with him.

We're proud of the man this kid is becoming and his Uncle Paco is particularly proud of the fellow Star Wars fan he is, too. JB told me that he said his "dream vacation" would be to the planet Kashyyyk (the Wookiee world from Revenge of the Sith) and that his favorite movie (not just in the series, but his favorite movie) is Return of the Jedi.

I also learned that he is an accomplished woodworker; a number of his woodworking projects were on display to show everyone.

Post-Easter Egg Hunt

The kids finally had their annual Easter egg hunt, albeit a week after Easter. This is because Easter Sunday this year did not align with either our Sunday general conference breakfast or fourth-Sunday family dinner.

Anyhow, we met up at Mike's and Jana's home in Layton Sunday for both family dinner and the kids' Easter egg hunt. Jackson took the time to organize the Easter egg hunt, and he did a great job doing so.

Everyone got a basket or bag full of plastic eggs and goodies inside them, which made for a lot of happy kids.

After this, we had our monthly family birthday party for our April birthdays: Graham (3), Jenna (16), and Jackson (11).

Graham was particularly grateful for his Kylo Ren light saber and Kylo Ren teddy bear:

JB is becoming a favorite of a number of the niblings, including four-year-old Kate here (but, then again, JB has pretty much been a favorite from the first family dinner she attended):

Her cousin Kylee is also a favorite:

In short, it was another great family dinner and Easter event for us.

Plowman Family Dinner/December 2018

Last night (minus Ben and Adi and their boys, who were out of town), we gathered for monthly family dinner at Mom's house in North Salt Lake. The menu for dinner was breakfast themed, so we enjoyed pancakes, breakfast casserole, bacon, and other breakfast foods.

JB and I provided the parcel for "Pass the Parcel," for which the kids got to pick from a number of Christmas goodies including socks, toys, and candy in the reverse order of which they got out during the game. (In other words, the last one holding the parcel was the first one to pick; the second-to-last out picked second, and so on.)

We also, of course, held our monthly family birthday party. Since November's lone birthday (Luke's) was lost amidst the hubbub of Thanksgiving, we included Luke along with Mike and Kylee, our December birthdays.

Improvables: Christmas Party 2018

Our annual troupe Christmas party was held Thursday night. These yokels pictured here were present for the occasion:

(JB also attended with me but was the one taking this picture.)

That included, as it always does, a good variety of holiday foods, as well as our white elephant gift exchange. JB ended up with a pair of ladies' socks (somewhat appropriate, no?), while yours truly pocketed a Captain American lip moisturizer.

Plowman Family Dinner/October 2018

On Sunday, with Mom home sick, we gathered up at Mike's and Jana's home in Layton instead for monthly family dinner and also for our monthly family birthday party. October has the most birthdays of the year, with six: mine, Kira's, Jana's, Steve's, Ike's, and Ben's.

Here are the kids chowing down at dinnertime:

Ike and Jeff, sitting on a beanbag chair:

After dinner, the kids dressed up in their Halloween costumes so we could see what everyone will be wearing when they trick-or-treat and also so we could get some photos for Grandma. Featured in this photo are Graham, as a knight; Christian, as a scorpion; Ike; Kate as Moana-achu (a Moana and Pokemon mashup); Kira, as Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series; Danny, as Olaf from Frozen; Jake, as Captain America; Tanner, as an Ewok; Steve; and Jackson, as a scarecrow-type character (?) from the Legend of Zelda series.

As for our new missionary, who was notably absent, reports from his parents are that he is doing very well in his first week at the MTC.