A Double Birthday

In my last post I told about our birthday weekend getaway.  Now here's the scoop on how Ed and I spent our actual joint birthday on Wednesday.

This was a big year for Ed, turning 50.  He was happy with a small family celebration, but I'd have given him a big surprise party if we were in Wyoming or Oregon, where his closest friends live.  I wish there had been a way to ship them all to Arizona for a day so I could have given my sweet husband a party he'd never forget!

Instead, we went out for a steak dinner at Chuckwagon with Jacob and Dylan.  Sarah was unable to join us since she was working.  A family at the next table was also celebrating their dad's birthday, and they were amazed when we told them Ed and I were both having a birthday that day.  They mentioned it to our waitress, who treated us to a delicious slice of apple pie a la mode!

Later that evening we had a small family party.  The kids sang "Happy Birthday" and served us cake and ice cream.  Jacob baked us the delicious chocolate cake above.  (And I blew out all the candles on my first try!)

After that we opened our gifts and, as usual, the kids were very good to us.  Sarah gave Ed a shiny black tie with a cool tie pin featuring Captain Moroni and the Title of Liberty (from a Book of Mormon story).  Jacob gave him a fleece jacket with "Remington" embroidered on the breast (something to do with guns, I think; it's a guy thing).  From Dylan, Ed received a 2-disc set of the "Call of Duty" video games.  Over the past several days, they've spent a lot of time together playing that game!  As for me, I gave Ed the pottery bowl.  I know it seems an odd gift, but Ed needed something to empty his pockets into at night, and the elk motif fits my hunter husband.  Like any good newlywed husband, he claims to like it!

I think Ed liked the bag his gift was in even better than he liked the gift itself.  While I was at work that day, I spent some time decorating a brown paper bag with some of the wild animals Ed loves.  It's a little bit corny, I know, but after he saw it, Ed decreed that we were definitely keeping that bag!

I was spoiled with gifts, as well.  Dylan gave me a blue storage crate.  I haven't decided yet whether I'd rather use it in my classroom or in my home office.  Jacob gave me the hummingbird feeder above.  Although it's been hanging on the porch for just a few days now, we already have quite a few little visitors sipping the sugar nectar.  From Ed, I received the Gospel Art book, a bag of orange chocolate Milano cookies (my favorites!), and a Cadbury chocolate bar.  He knows I cannot resist chocolate!

And, finally, Sarah added another Willow Tree figurine to my collection, the little girl holding an armful of lilies, called "Beautiful Wishes."  My collection is growing and I love it!  Even Ed, who isn't a huge fan of feminine "gewgaws," looked at it admiringly and called it "pretty nice."  High praise, indeed!

As I mentioned, I did have to work on my (our) birthday, but I had fun celebrating at work, too.  When I arrived that morning, I found that my secret pal had strewn a "Happy Birthday" banner and curly ribbons and tiny colorful pom-poms across my desk and computer.  My aide, Kim, had brought me a beautiful bouquet of my favorite flowers, carnations.

Later in the day, someone brought me another carnation bouquet with a card, this time from my secret pal.  I placed both bouquets in the vase and enjoyed them on my desk all week.  Now I'm enjoying them in the kitchen window here at home.  They are still beautiful!

Kim brought in lots and lots of cookies for my classes, so we finished early each period to enjoy the food and celebrate the teacher getting a year older.  Kim brought in a cheesecake sampler for us to enjoy (we'd already indulged ourselves by the time I took the picture above).  She also gave me her "most special gift," the first ripe tomato from her new garden.  We ate it in a salad the following day, and it was delicious!

All in all, it was a great day.  I have quite a few friends who hate having birthdays and prefer not to acknowledge them.  However, my philosophy is this: I'm going to be a year older whether I ignore my birthday or not, so why not celebrate?!  Therefore, surprise me, bring me presents, sing me songs, feed me sweets, laugh with me, be joyful with me!  Many thanks to all of you who celebrate my life with me all the year through!