And... it's a Birthday!

I was reading a book recently. The book was awful, and I returned it to the library without finishing it; however, there was one thing from the book that I did like. She says that birthdays are something you can't change. They are a part of who you are. The day that you were brought to this earth... And so you shouldn't be discouraged by your age. yadda yadda yadda... I can't remember the rest. But, I read that a few days before my birthday and thought it was fitting.

Of course, this put the song "I like my birthdays, every one..." in my head. I have been singing this to myself pretty much ever since.

So, anyhow, yesterday was my 29th birthday. In Melanie's words, next year I'll be OLLLLD. One thing I love about birthdays (besides that they are all about me), is they are full of fun family activities. For example, we went to the Arizona Historical Society with daddy on Saturday and showed him all the cool things that museum has to offer. (If you haven't been there yet... get! Seriously, it's neat and it's always vacant). The following are some pictures from the museum visit:

And drafter's table and some plans for the Roosevelt Dam.

Oliver, enjoying the exhibits:

Brandon is ready to serve his country:

Oliver says "As love as I get to drive!"

What??? No Engine?

Fine... we'll take that old Model T instead:

Stop!!!! okay... Slow!!!

Don't mess with this guy!

So, the rest of Saturday was really laid back. Brandon has been extremely sick for the last... well, since Memorial Day weekend. He has been miserable, so I was really lucky he was able to do some things with us and felt okay part of the time.

Sunday (my actual birthDAY) was funfilled. The girls woke me up with gifts and handmade cards! I got a fun monkey pajama shirt, some bike gloves, and some dark chocolate. Yum! The rest of the day was an adventure.

Our adventure started upon leaving for church. We were all ready to go, got everyone outside and loaded everyone into the truck. Then Brandon went to turn it on.... and NOTHING! He tried again.... NOTHING! hmm... not good! Okay, we have one vehicle that fits everyone, and that is the truck. And we have the jeep Cherokee, which is a vehicle that Brandon got as trade for some work a LONG time ago. He has fixed it up and plays in the dirt with it. It can't fit everyone in it with car seats, the seat belts don't adjust, it has no A/C, and it's dirty. Yet here I am, 15 minutes before church starts, suggesting that we just throw everyone in it, and take the neighborhood roads. Extremely legal (I forgot to mention the jeep was not registered), but it would get us there. So... that's what we did. The girls sat very still in the jeep. It was a fun ride. We laid sheets on the seats and they didn't get too dirty. We made it!

Church was good. At this point, we were a little late and had to sit in the back, with the fold up chairs. I don't like sitting back there because it seems like if you have kids, you disrupt more people in the chairs then in the bench. But it is what it is.

After church, I loaded the kids back into the jeep. Then, being a goof, I was singing "They Say it's *MY* birthday", went to jump into the jeep, slipped, and hit my back against the door jam.... yikes! bruised my spine. I did a nice acrobatic something, got into the seat, and then cry-laughed. It's a unique kind of sensation, having a bruise on your spine. I don't recommend it.

We got home and Brandon made DINNER! yum! He made Chicken Lo Mien for me from scratch. I'm telling you, he is a keeper. After our dinner, I made frosting and frosted the cake while the girls cleaned the house and then made the party hats. Brandon cut them large to encompass the entire pictures on the hats. They all had princesses or volcanoes on them.

(side note, I told Melanie her hat made her look like the pope. She walked to Brandon and says "I don't *want* to be the pope!" It was cute. And she had no idea what the pope was, so it was even cuter. Here are pictures from our party (be sure to check out the hats!):

Dairy Free Chocolate Cake:

Me, my new gloves and shirt, and my little man:

Those gloves sure like to tickle little boys:

The party guests:

Mommy and my Egyptian Pharaoh:

Mommy and Noelle:

Mommy and the Pope:

Mommy and the most beautiful man in the world:

Boy am I lucky! Happy birthday to me!

Now, since I'm 29, I decided to put together a list of things I want to do before I turn 30. Here we go.

1. Complete a Triathlon
2. Run in a marathon
3. Go somewhere tropical
4. Swim in the ocean
5. Take a picture of a fish
6. Walk my mom down the isle
7. Learn a new nice hair style
8. Learn how to make good rolls (I want Anna's recipe... hint hint!)
9. Learn how to slice bread without killing it.
10. Take my flute to get a "tune-up"
11. Go on a stay-cation with just Brandon
12. Play Piano for Sacrament
13. Play Flute in Church
14. Take a cooking class
15. Redecorate my kitchen
16. Attend a free cooking/baking class at Shars
17. Write a children's book
18. Stay out past curfew
19. Help a stranger
20. Eat a homemade ice cream root beer float
21. Try out a new restaurant
22. Buy a new favorite shirt
23. Find a new family favorite recipe
24. Plan a great, cheap date
25. Teach Melanie how to cook something easy by herself.
26. Write 5 friends letters using snail mail
27. Go on a double date
28. Invite a family over for dinner
29. Get a pedicure
30. Get family pictures taken

Good Luck to Me!