Birthday Celebrations

My 32nd birthday was November 22, the day before Thanksgiving. I actually had 3 different celebrations this year, and they were all tons of fun! I feel so spoiled!

First, the Saturday evening before my actual birthday, Sarah treated me and two other friends, Lyn and Debi, to a performance of Mama Mia! (Sarah has great connections through her work as an ASL interpreter!) The show was great fun, and afterwards we went to Chile's for some appetizers and fellowship. It was a girls' night out to remember!

The next day, Sunday afternoon, my friend Debi hosted a birthday party for me at her house! I haven't had a birthday party in I don't know how long, and it was also tons of fun. Once again, I felt so spoiled! The ladies all wrote things they were thankful for about me, and Debi took a picture of me with each friend who was there and is going to put a little memory booklet together for me. I thought it was a very sweet idea. There were some games and lots of laughter and of course yummy chocolate cake. :-) Oh, and presents galore! Lots of treats for pampering, and Debi found two beautiful maternity shirts for me that are a welcome addition to a wardrobe that is quickly becoming tiresome!

Two days later our family drove to Colorado for Thanksgiving (I'll have to post a separate entry about that), and we had our family celebration of my birthday on Wednesday, beginning with a birthday brunch at Joel and Sarah's house. It was so fun to see how they've decorated/updated the house. (They purchased the house Ted and Joel grew up in from their mom, who moved into a smaller condo this summer.) They've worked hard, and it looks so nice! It was somewhat surreal to walk into the home I've always known as Jim and Rhonda's house and see it look so different, but Ted and I are both thrilled that the house is staying in the family. The kids remembered the house, too, so that was pretty cool.

Anyway, more presents! (See? Told you I've been spoiled!) The kids got me new cookie sheets, which I had blatantly asked for, seeing as how the ones I got for our wedding shower 9 1/2 years ago are in very sad shape! Ted got me a Leigh Nash (of Sixpence None the Richer) CD that is very beautiful, a Dave Barry daily calendar, and Stephen Lawhead's new book Hood, which we had both been wanting (it's a retelling of the Robin Hood legend in Lawhead's amazing, unique style that is so well-researched), so it's pretty obvious what the motives were for that one! ;-) Now I'm under pressure to finish reading it so that he can have it! Tee hee! And the whole family went in on a breadmaker, which I've been wanting but am now a bit intimidated by! I really need to pull out the box and actually read the directions now that our trip is over and the holidays are getting closer. I can't wait to try it out!

Later that evening Rhonda babysat the kids so Ted and I could go out. We went to a nice Italian restaurant called Pastas at Joel and Sarah's recommendation. Then we got tickets to see the Santa Clause 3 movie and walked to Starbucks for a latte while we were waiting for the movie to start. The movie was cute, and we came home tired but refreshed for having gotten some alone time for the first time in quite awhile.