"The Big One"

If you're just checking back after my long break you may want to scroll down and catch up on things in order...

So, as some of you know, June 24th was my birthday, and yes, it was "The Big One"! Oddly enough, turning 30 was more traumatic for me than 40 was...anyway...I had a good birthday here in Kansas. Gracie greeted me that morning with a kiss and the question, "have you grown yet?" Since Lily was in New Hampshire with my parents, they called in the morning and sang to me over the phone. It happened to be a day when I lead one of the small groups and one of the girls baked cupcakes for me and the group sang to me as well. It was also one of those "spankin'" hot days here so Gracie and I went to the pool for the afternoon. Tim had youth group that evening, but he came home with my favorite meal from a local restaurant and we enjoyed a late dinner together. I think my favorite part of the day was opening the card Tim gave me...we don't "do" cards for each other all that often, so this was very meaningful. Plus, he added his own words that were very sweet! (For those of you who know Tim even a teeny bit...you know this is big stuff!)
A special surprise came about a week later when my whole family was able to gather at my brother's house for 4th of July weekend. My parents surprised me and both flew back with Lily and the 14 of us had a great time together! It had been 5 years since we'd all been together! We celebrated my birthday on the 5th with a most delicious cake and ice cream and a few presents too! The picture above is of all of us in John's backyard.