Birthdays 2

My Newest Happy Place

 D surprised me by staying home from work on my birthday this year. He sent me on an "as long as you want"  run (such a treat~) where I found a new ridge trail with a view. Then we spent the day together and bless him, he let me decide where to eat (even though it ended up being a crappy coupon-motivated choice -- I'm sure I'm the only wife who gets genuine praise for choosing NOT to save money as he keeps my "thrift gene" in check.) It was lovely to spend some relatively uninterrupted or pounced-upon time with my sweetheart (and of course, Sum and Des, affectionately dubbed Family #2.)

 I proudly share a birthday with two of my brothers. Well, one is the day before mine and one the day after, but we always do a big family party with 3 cakes and I've sorta been missing it. So here was my Instagram shout out to Weston and Marty this year.  :)

 Who can help but feel fully loved with a card such as this?

Or heaps of the world's best chocolate posted straight to my door. (Sidenote: Mer, I may or may not have banned Darren from joining in my late night indulgences, as he tends not to slowly savor each bite like I!)

Conveniently, all seven of our birthdays are spread out once a month from April to October. Will pulls up the rear and ended the birthday run with a shabang.

 

 Cheesecake, shopping spree for treats, shaving cream wars, body paint, the chocolate bar game, endless Nerf wars...

It was his dream combination of friends, Nerf, music, sugar and mess. You can bet I was finding remnants of that "epic" sleepover for weeks afterwards (!)

 Will is the forerunner in this fam and also the guinea pig. I'm grateful for his GUSTO (definitely inherited from his namesake, my Dad) enthusiasm, energy, fairness and strong sense of right and wrong. He's compassionate and sensitive, yet totally full-throttle. An awesome combo.

never was a boy happier to get a little brudder

cool dude's b-day lunch, the boy can put it down

We also commemorated 9/11 helping post flags on the Embassy gates - always a breathtaking display, representing each life lost that fateful day.

And we recently had our 13th wedding anniversary. My mom, a numbers gal who remembers the dates of baptisms, her and Dad's first kiss and even our engagement, left a voicemail with congrats.

Which was a good reminder because... well, we had both forgotten. Aaaahh, at least it's not a reflection of our love. (And truth be told we were climbing out from under the rubble of a week long camping trip at the coast.)

So we celebrated the next day with a family candlelight dinner re-telling all the details of our engagement and wedding then sharing favorite things about our family with each other. Will, newly inspired by his awesome breakfast at Scouts campout, even brought us Cowboy Hash in bed.

I had fun finding D pics. It has been a great 13 - looking forward to as many adventures in the next 13!

The Dad Magnet (bottom: late to church yet again)