A Walk down Birthday Pasts

As I was driving home today in a rain/sleet/wind storm, my mind started wandering to birthdays I've celebrated before. Frankly, I cannot recall all of them, but some really do stand out...here are a few memories...

I recall when I was 6 or 7 (I guess I could look up it up to figure out which one it was, but I'm too lazy today to do a weather google search!) we had a huge snowfall, and for my birthday, my older brothers built me a snow fort and tunnels in the backyard, and my friends and I played out in the snow!

I remember when I was turned 13 and I was playing out on the monkey bars in the backyard, and my mom calling me in for cake. I thought I was so "OLD" that day. I wore my favorite overalls, and I had a horrid perm, which looked more like an afro. (Un)Fortunately, all of those birthday pics are lost (or perhaps someone, no names here, shredded them!)

I remember on my 16th birthday my mom took me down to get my learner's permit! That was such an exciting event! And she let me drive home! Six months later to the day I got my driver's license, and went out driving with my sister, Robin. We went through my first drive-through at Burger King, and I promptly scratched the whole side of the car as I turned the corner too closely. Oh, the Joy!

Then my 28th birthday comes to mind! It was the first one as a married woman! My husband took me to the Olive Garden for dinner, and then we went back to our basement apartment, where he had many friends and family gathered for a Surprise Birthday party for me! He decorated and had cleaned the place and even made me a homemade lemon birthday cake! It was such a sweet gesture!

And then we celebrated my 40th last year, in Denver...with my oldest girlfriend, Julie and her family. It was the same week as Easter, so we celebrated them both!

And here we are now...my 41st birthday! I slept in a little. Then went to work for 4 hours. I finished up, and then met my sweetheart at the Olive Garden again for a lunch for 2. It was just nice to be together, and to enjoy a yummy lunch! Now, I'm home, and plan to kick back and relax! The Chief will make dinner and hopefully there will be a cake with candles to blow out later too! And then sometime later, my sister Suzanne and her fam are supposed to show up. They will spend the night with us, as they are here to finish up their big move to Idaho.

And just to remind me who's boss, Mother Nature has decided to give us some snow for this Birthday of mine this year too! It doesn't matter though because I still love April and all it represents, including my Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me!

Nine is Fine

Noah is 9


My Middle Child turns 9 tomorrow. I was so thrilled to have my Noah. I have the tradition of telling my children their birth story for their birthdays! It is so fun to share with them how they entered the world and joined our family! Noah came after my labor was induced. It actually was a pretty easy labor, and he arrived at 5:28 in the afternoon, with the Chief, my mom, and my oldest sister, Suzanne there. It was a rainy, sleety day, but it was a happy day in a long January month!

Let me tell you about Noah.
He's athletic. He sets goals and goes for them. He likes to win, and he has been lucky enough to be on winning football and basketball teams! He enjoys cub scouts. He is not afraid to try things like snowboarding, but he really doesn't like heights (gets it from the Chief!) and climbing up a 4 step ladder is daunting. He can be really silly and a goofball one minute, and then Mr. Shy the next. He despises public speaking. He cheers for the BYU Cougars, Utah Jazz, and the Minnesota Vikings. He used to be Mr. Neat, and now he is Mr. Messy. He doesn't like to sleep alone, and begs his older brother to let him bunk with him. He prefers to be outside doing anything over being trapped inside the house. He rarely watches television, unless it is a sporting event. He is a great little brother, and a sweet older brother. He still lets mom snuggle with him. He loves to do "different" things with his hair, and he is really opinionated about how it should be cut. Noah gets called "Noey" by his family more than Noah, and he also likes to be called "Sport". He is really good at memorizing things, and he is a good speller. He does well in school, but would prefer not to have homework. He is creative and smart. He is really strategic at Dominoes, and has a really great laugh.

Noah, you bring so much JOY to our family. We love you!

Happy Birthday, Noah

I kissed a 45 year old man today!

 Happy Birthday, Schatz! You have grown up well! You may be older than me, but you still look like a young man! I'm glad you are my husband, my lover, the father of my 3 boys, and my best friend! I hope you enjoy your birthday present...and we will all benefit from the beautiful photos you will create with it! Happy, Happy Birthday!


Looking hot at 45



Life is beautiful with my guy!

Happy Birthday Setheroo!

My baby is 5 today.

On the Eve of his Birthday,

he laid in my lap,

and asked me to tell him the story of the day he was born.

 It was so fun to cuddle with my baby

 as I told him the story of his

Grand Entrance!

We love you Seth and we are so glad you are a part of our family!

Happy Birthday!

It's my day...the big 4-0!

I have to post on my birthday, right? I was a women of leisure today! I took the day off from work. I did still have to drive carpool this morning, and then there were still 2 loads of laundry to fold, so I did that too, but then I took some leisure...I started with dying my hair...gotta officially hide the grays now! Then I took a hot shower. While there, I noticed that the bathroom could use a nice cleaning, so I interupted my life of leisure to clean the master bath, but then, went back to celebrating...I went to the library...one of my favorite places...love the smell of books! Unfortunately, they were having story time there and so my typically quiet library was overrun with toddlers who weren't exactly listening to the story and their mommies who were enjoying a social hour. Then, moved on, to picking up my bestest friend, Shauna. Together, we went to see the Last Song. Did not know I would be crying in this film, so if you are going to go see it, take a few kleenix! Then we went to Archibald's Restaurant for lunch! Boy, was that yummy. I hadn't been there for 15 plus years and I wonder why I haven't gone there more frequently. Afterward, I dropped Shauna home and came home to encourage McKay and Noah to do their reading and piano practicing while I took calls from my friends and family sending their birthday wishes.

Then the Chief arrived home and took us all out to Cafe Rio (YUM, YUM, YUM) for dinner and then we went to the Sweet Tooth Fairy, which is a new bakery in town. I learned about it from Nie Nie at nieniedialogues.blogspot.com. If you haven't heard of Stephenie and her blog, I highly recommend reading her story, and her blog. It is so inspiring. And her vaNIElla cupcake named after her was so delicious and the perfect thing to end this special day of mine.

And I've even included a photo to mark the occasion!

Happy 40th Birthday to me!

A post and pics from Easter in Denver are coming soon, but first back to my last few hours of leisure before regularly scheduled life returns tomorrow!