Beginning my 31st Year

Beginning my 31st (or 32nd if you ask my hubs) year... (aka "Happy Birthday to Me")

How talented is my sister: she made me this cool M

Yes, my husband has a hard time remembering how old we are.  Yes, he sometimes adds years to my life (thanks, honey), but at least he always remembers that he's the older of the two.

The day before my birthday I received a text from my cousin Rachel asking if I'd like to come down to Tacoma to Auntie Lorna's house for a cousin visit and brunch.  Um, YES!  So the scheming began and pretty soon we had a complete plan...except for asking Auntie Lorna if we could use her house. ha!  It brought me back to our childhood when Rachel and I would scheme up grand plans and only when our plan was perfect would we seek permission.  Ah, exciting!

The next morning dawned and Lucy took an early nap then we headed south.  We spent some great time just us three gals (Rachel, Tori, me), with the littlest of our brood -- Amelia, Lucy, and London.  It was a lovely morning.  Then the craziness kicked in when Auntie Lorna returned with Jade, Amaris, Lael, and Gwenna -- back from swimming lessons.  We had lunch and some fun antics, then it was time for Lucy and I to head home.

Three Musketeers! 

CJ joined in the lady time for a bit... What a guy!
Must admit: he makes me feel OLD...I remember vividly when he was London's size...

Lucy's already trying to run the show 

Good enough! ;) 

Lucy Love and Tori

Little Miss Independent

Tori singing to Lucy

Sweetness showing how sweet she is

Amaris and her babies...

She has a gift! 

Ultimately this girl just wants mama when she's tired... MELT!

Next Sarah and the kids stopped by for a quick "hello, happy birthday!"  They made the CUTEST cards for me and gifted me a spa kit.  Um, yes please!  The best part of it all was the kids getting Lucy laughing -- I mean really laughing.  (See the video on my 6 month post here).

We finished the night with Isaac making me Gordon Ramsey's beef wellington with mashed red potatoes and grilled asparagus and celebratory Martinelli's.  Lovely!!  I love any excuse to use our wedding wine glasses.

All in all a beautiful day complete with so many I love.  I received so many phone calls, texts, facebook messages, and love...  I felt truly so blessed to have so many people in my life who love me so well!



And so begins my 31st year: by far the fullest year of my life yet.  I have a wonderfully loving husband, a beautiful and busy little girl, I'm near family, I have an awesome church family...  I don't feel I'm overreaching to say "I'm blessed!"  I know that word gets thrown around a lot, but I truly feel like God has blessed me in this season by surrounding me with strong believers who consistently and lovingly point me to Christ, love me where I'm at, encourage me, and push me to follow Him more.  Thank you, Jesus for your sacrifice; thank you God for choosing me, setting me apart for your work, and just loving me without condition.

My two most favorites!