Sunless San Diego

Last weekend we loaded up the surfboards and headed to sunny San Diego, only the sun was no where to be found. I had been itching to go surfing again since our last beach trip last September, but where we got to Oceanside last Friday it was windy and cold, and the water was even colder. We had forgotten our wetsuits, so, even as anxious as I was to surf, I just couldn't bring myself to get in that water. The little ones had fun playing on the dry-docked surfboards.

We decided to eat instead. Fish and chips at the Oceanside harbor! Yum!

The boys practiced palming the H2O polo ball and did some digging with that serious sand shovel.

But nobody ventured into the water.

Just as well, because we had somewhere to go.

We changed at our hotel and took off to my niece, Cortney's wedding on Mission Bay.

I was the official photographer for the wedding. I wish someone would have told the groom's dad that, because he was always right in there with his little point and shoot getting in my way as I was trying to take pictures. Photographing a wedding is hard enough without having to compete for the perfect spot. He should have just sat down and enjoyed his son's wedding and let me do my job. It was funny. Good thing I am so tall, because I just shot right over his head.

I've decided that photographing weddings are hard! You have to be everywhere at once and everything goes so fast, and you can't miss a shot because it's not like you can ask them to go back and do that again. (I think I like temple weddings because for all the important stuff, photography is not allowed.) I have new respect for people who do this professionally!

Then again, it is not easy to be the photographer and a guest at the same time. I didn't have much of a chance to visit with all these wonderful friends and family. Still, it was great practice for me.

It was so fun to see family!

This was one time when I was very glad that the sun wasn't out, because it made for some pretty portraits!

The bride was beautiful. I hope she likes the pictures.

Much happiness, Cortney and Anthony!

The reception was held in our favorite Mexican restaurant in San Diego, the Old Town Mexican Cafe where they had the best balloon man I have ever seen who kept the kids occupied. We had a great time!

On Saturday morning, since the sun hadn't peaked through yet, we decided to head for the swap meet at the SD sports arena to see what we could find.

The boys were drawn straight to the ninja sword and weapons. Boys.

They also had to try on a bunch of silly hats.

Derek had to buy the Chinese peasant hat, of course, and they pooled their money together to buy a ninja sword.

Boys are goofy!

Then we went over to the Church's newly re-done Mormon Battalion Visitor's Center. We had heard a lot of great things about it, so we were excited to explore.

Luke was sure excited!

My own battalion of boys.

It was so cool. They took you on a tour across the country from Ohio to California, and each room that we entered was made to look like a different place - a pioneer campsite into the forest, a general store on the frontier, the desert at night, and a brick courthouse. It was quite clever and entertaining! We all really enjoyed it.

At the end of the tour there is some interactive displays and they take your picture, give you a copy and also email you a copy.

Then outside in the courtyard there is more to do.

You can pan for gold! The boys really like this.

The cool thing is that the "gold" they found was not just the typical rocks spray-painted gold, but was pyrite - fools' gold, which made it just a bit more exciting for these guys.

There was also a brick kiln and a water pump to play with.

There was also a tower where you could see views of Old Town and the bay.

We love that it was fun, free, and educational. The Church does everything so well!

After that, we thought we'd try another shot at the beach. We met our cousins there on Mission Beach.

The sun still wasn't out, but it was a bit warmer than the day before. This time a few of them ventured into the water. But the beach was SO crowded and there was no where to surf nearby. I guess we'll have to make another trip once the June gloom finally burns off.

After the beach we treated ourselves to our favorite peanut butter shakes at Mr. Frostee's in PB, then dinner at the Claim Jumper.

That was our visit to sunless San Diego. I heard that the sun came out the very next day, and has been burning brightly ever since. Oh well. We still had a great time!

Summertime, Summertime, Sum, Sum, Summertime!

Luke's little friend Claire and her mommy invited Luke and some of their other 4 year old friends over for some summertime fun - namely the slip 'n slide. They are just the cutest group of kids! I love each one of them!

Being 4, they didn't quite get it at first, so inventive mommy Tara pulled them across the slip 'n slide with a golf club.

Eventually they figured it out on their own.

Then they finished it off right with some ice cream!

Thanks Claire! Luke had some great summertime fun!

Has Anyone Seen My Best Laid Plans?

It is July 19 already. JULY 19 !!! What the heck happened to June and the better part of July?

I had been anticipating summer since, well, Christmas - not because I love the 120 degree heat - but because summer held the promise of some much needed time.

During the school year, life is frankly NUTS around here. My weekdays routine is basically get up before the sun, swim, teach seminary, take kids to school, take more kids to school, prepare tomorrow's seminary lesson, pick up kids from school, pick up more kids from school, pick up the kids from after school programs, get the kids to do their homework and practice their instruments, make dinner, try to get everyone dressed and to taekwando, have dinner, get the kids to do their chores and finish homework, and fall into bed. And that is on the rare occasion that I am not driving kids to Young Men, scouts, piano lessons, the eternal dentist and ortho appointments....

The school year is really exhausting! (BTW, I always liked homework as a kid. Now I loathe it! Homework is pure evil - created, no doubt, by Satan to destroy families and my sanity!)

Oh, and next year will be way more fun with kids in 4 different schools. Yep. Preschool, elementary school, middle school, and high school. Oh, and don't forget Seminary. Good thing I have that beautiful plush luxury vehicle called the family Suburban to drive around in all day. A sweet ride! Yeah, baby! (We are running that car into the ground and fully expect it to conk out on us any day now. Then again, it just might outlast me, the way I am running myself into the ground.)

So summertime was going to be my salvation!

Needles to say, I was REALLY looking forward to summertime when frankly, I wouldn't have to do all that driving, and preparing seminary, and jumping down my kids' throats to do their homework. This was gonna be great!

I made plans. Oh, did I make plans.

I got a clipboard. The clipboard - the project clip board, and I got busy making my summertime plans. Not plans about summer vacations and fun things to do, but plans for the projects that I simply don't have time to get to in the school year and that I really NEED, and WANT to do. I have it broken into several categories: Projects I can do in an hour or two, projects that I can do in half a day, projects that will take a whole day, and larger, long term projects.

My plan was that I would try to do one project a day, starting with the ones that need my attention first, then moving onto to the ones that I have just been dying to get to.

Summer was going to be the perfect opportunity! After all, I have no seminary to prepare for, the kids are all home and don't need to be driven anywhere, and the older ones can watch the younger ones so I can actually get into my pink room and get busy with stuff. Perfectly laid plans, right?

No.

As it turns out, summer is nuts too. Here we are a full 6 weeks into summer, and how many projects have I gotten crossed off my clipboard? Exactly 3. THREE! (Well, actually 2 and 1/2, but I am almost finished with that last one - maybe in the next week or so.)

All three were from my "under 2 hour" list.

Apparently, when I laid out my summer project plans, I had forgotten one very crucial fact - Everybody needs me. EVERYBODY ALWAYS NEEDS ME.

Even when they think they don't.

My plans? What are my plans? Who am I to get to be able to make plans? Please. I am the mom, and fact is, the mom never gets to make her own plans. You'd think that I would have figured out that law of nature my now.

I just finished reading a non-fiction memoir called Eat, Pray, Love about a woman who didn't want to have children, left her husband for a relationship with another guy which she butchered too, then fell into depression because she was so lonely so she decided she needed to find herself and escaped her life for an entire year, eating to her hearts' content in Italy, meditating in an Ashram in India, and finally finding love in a Balinese paradise. Then she wrote a best-selling book about it, and now Julia Roberts is playing her in the feature film. Well la-de-dah. Good for her.

This book really sticks in my craw!

For one thing, it is all about her. All of it. Trotting around Rome doing whatever she darn well pleases, then off to India where she spends most of her waking hours sitting silently in a cave trying, and succeeding apparently, to commune with God, then finally off to Bali where she describes how she was living a perfect life - spending her mornings with a holy man learning about God, then her afternoons chatting with friends, than her evenings having tea and reading books in a garden paradise. How nice. There was only one, count it, ONE selfless thing she did in the entire book. ONE. In a years' time. Seriously. How many selfless things, as a mom, or any mom for that matter, do we do in a day?

She spends the whole book whining about how depressed and lonely she is and how she needs to find god. I'm thinking she didn't need to travel all around the world to find god and start feeling better about herself - she just needed to get over herself, get off her tail, and go serve food to the homeless in a soup kitchen. Just saying...

She was actually quite pathetic.

I think I'll write a book called Eat, Pray, Love, and Work Your Tail Off For Those You Love. I wonder if Julia Roberts would play me? No thanks.

I LOVE my family, and that is why I serve them. And I EAT plenty, maybe a bit too much, only I have to cook most of it myself. And I have already found my God that I PRAY to, and I love Him, and that is why I work so hard to serve him too. I am so grateful that I have a religion that teaches that you find yourself by serving others, and that you find God in the very same process - NOT by holing yourself up in a cave. I still eat, I still pray, and I have a whole lot of love around me as I serve them. OK, so I am not living in an island paradise, but I am living in a better paradise, a loving family, and adoring husband, and kids who hug me and call me beautiful. Now that is the life - albeit a crazy busy one!

Truth is, summer will end (quite soon!) and most of my list will remain undone, school will start, and then the holidays, and then I'll be looking forward again to all the time and freedom summer will promise to bring me- which it won't. My life is just crazy, and busy, and always will be. My lists and plans will never all get done.

(Dennis and the 4 older boys just drove off to scout camp about an hour ago, so maybe I can get something crossed of the list this week. I'll sure try!)

So though my plans have to be continually set aside for the sake of everyone else, and I do mean everyone, there is one plan of mine that is right on target, my best laid plan, and that is my plan to be with my family eternally - in a place SO much better than Bali!

Dream Job!

On Sunday I saw Caleb was out in the backyard doing something. He was wearing a dress shirt, and had a bell and some index cards and a pen. He would poke his head in the door and call his brothers one at a time to come outside with him. After a while, I couldn't resist going out to ask him what he was up to.

He said, "I'm doing my dream job."

"Really?" I asked. "What is your dream job, Caleb?"

He dinged the bell and called, "Who's next?"

I guess I was, so I joined him at his make-shift desk in his "office".

Then he asked the question of his profession "Who do you love?"

That was his dream job, asking and recording what and who people love - kind of like a census worker of love, I guess, or one of those angels we've heard about above us, looking down on us, recording all the good we do each day.

He showed me his notes. In the top corner were the initials and ages of the interviewee - I suppose to keep the survey participants anonymous. I assume the the one on top (N.N. 13) is Nathan, who happens to be the only 13 year old in the house. I think Caleb got the initials from the sounds of the name: N.N. = Nath-aN, D.N. = Dyl-aN.

Nathan's card translates: He loves mom. He loves to play with the D.S.

Dylan's says: He loves Mom and Dad and his piano.

SO cute.

So that is his dream job. If you think about it, how great a job would that be? I mean, how nice to talk to people all day about the things they love! No stress, no pressure. You'd come home each day all buoyed up by all those happy thoughts! Of course, it would be hard not to take the job home with you, but I could live with that. I think that might be my dream job too!

So I decided to participate in the love census survey. He rang the bell, asked me what I loved, and I started in on my long list of everything I love so much - my family, my country, my God, chocolate... He listened carefully to everything I said, but didn't write down a thing. Finally, I asked him if he needed to write down my response. He said no, and reached for a manila folder with the word "Mom" printed carefully on the tab.

"I already did," he said. Inside of the folder was a pink index card with the initials M.M. in the corner.

On it he had written, She love us. She love her iPhone.

That just about sums it up, I guess, doesn't it? Well, except for just one thing - I also love 6 year olds!

My New Happy Place!

I just made a discovery on a mundane errand to return stuff to Michael's! My new happy place - Clementine. It is a new French patisserie in Palm Desert, right next to Trader Joe's, and it is tre magnifique!

I had to come back the next day, with my mom and my camera! I love taking pictures of food!

I posted all about it on my creative blog, Out of the Attic. But since it was just such a fun discovery for me, I had to post it on my private blog as well! Check out the full post here.

Cupcakes for Bastille Day!

Cupcakes for any day!

The owners were delightful people! He is from France and she an American who grew up in Italy. It was so much fun talking to them.

Mom and I shared a pear tart and a cannoli. They were both fabulous!!! We spent an hour there, and it was like a mini-vacation to Paris! I was happy the rest of the day! Still am.

Happy about my new happy place!

Buttermilk Syrup Recipe Request

As per a request from Anonymous in the previous post, here is the recipe for:

Buttermilk Syrup

2 cups sugar

1 cup butter

1 cup buttermilk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

Bring sugar, butter, and milk to a boil in a large saucepan. Remove from heat, and add vanilla and soda.

We have this every Sunday morning on our waffles!

Just try it! It looks strange, but tastes amazing, which should really be no surprise considering how much butter and sugar is in there! Move over, Aunt Jemima.

You'll LOVE it!

Family, Food, and Fun for the Fourth!

This Independence Day, we made quite a splash!

At first we were all a little bummed when we realized that this year the 4th of July fell on a Sunday because it is one of our favorite holidays. We are a rather patriotic clan. We love this great nation, and when it comes to celebrating her, we go a bit crazy! Click here and here to see how I like to decorate fort the 4th (basically, everything gets covered in flags and buntings!) But beyond that, for us the 4th always means 3 things: food, family, and fun!

We thought having the 4th on a Sunday might just dampen a bit of the fun a bit, but as it turned out, having it on a Sunday meant that the party went on for 3 solid days! Saturday, Sunday, AND Monday! It was pretty darn fantastic!

Another thing that made this Independence Day weekend so special was that most of the Signs family were here which means lots, and lots of cousin time!

My sister, Mindy, and her family made a road trip down from Oregon to be here, and of course my parents and sis, Lisa already live here. Then my brother, Rick, in San Diego decided to drop everything and bring his family for a quick visit. The only one missing was Natalee and her family in Texas. We sure missed those guys a TON!

So the cousins spent the day swimming (kind of - it is just a spa/waterfall) and playing with the hose, and generally making quite a splash together!

Then, that night everyone came over for a big family dinner. The little ones got quite a kick out of the electric candles I had in the little luminary buckets. Luke, Jon, and Caleb all pretended they were fire-benders with the ability to hold fire in the palm of their hand. Zack was playing a shell game with a candle under the buckets. Poor kid. He was not too successful at fooling anyone, since the buckets all had holes punched in them, and the candle was glowing! Baby Zoe just thought it was a paci-fire. (Get it? Paci-fire? hehe)

We were all having a blast, and it was only the 3rd!

The next day we all enjoyed a wonderful, patriotic and spiritual time at church. It was fast Sunday, and our family pretty much took up one whole side of the church pews. Lots of folks were out of town, but we were most definitely in town, and made up about a fourth of the congregation.

I was a nervous wreck because I had to teach gospel doctrine for the first time ever. I taught about Psalms, and my inner language arts teacher and lit major came out, and I gave the class a 45 minute lecture on Hebrew poetry and chiasmus. I thought it was SO fascinating and exciting until I started teaching it and realized it was the most boring Sunday School lesson in history, (and that that is really saying something!) I am such a nerd!

Anyway, that night the whole clan came over for an All-American meal - BBQ chicken, hot dogs, corn on the cob, watermelon, potato salad and baked beans! Oh, and a jello shaped like the United States (minus Hawaii, and Alaska, of course.) We just put it an the kids' table and let them dig right in and carve out their favorite state. "I want Florida." "I get Texas!" "No fair, all I got was Rhode Island."

For dessert I planned a special treat for the kids - cupcake kabobs! I made them with red, white, and blue mini-cupcakes, whole strawberries, and everyone's favorite red, white and blue striped marshmallows!

The cupcake kabobs were a hit and will definitely have to be added to our 4th of July traditions!

By the time the kabobs were devoured, it was getting late, so we all piled into our cars and followed each other down to the church were we got a good view of the fireworks. We drove into the parking lot just as the fireworks show started, so we all jumped out and watched it right from our car (or for some, literally on our car!) Take a look at our whole clan!

My kids had gotten these prism glasses at Legoland when we won our car on New Years Eve and they were so much fun to watch fireworks with, that we saved them for the fourth. They are like watching fireworks in a kaleidoscope! (the pic top left gives you some idea - I put the glasses over my camera lens.) Actually they are pretty fun with just regular lights, like just driving down the road at night (of course, as long as you are not the one actually driving!)

My favorite shot using a tripod and slow shutter speed. I love the silhouettes of the palm trees, the red and white stripes from the cars passing by, and the couple on the right watching the show. Cool, huh?

But when the fireworks stopped, the party wasn't over. Not for the Signs clan!

The night was just beginning.

I and my actual siblings went over to my parents house for official business. Dad recently visited with his brother, and picked up a bunch of my late grandmother's stuff, and so my parents used the opportunity of us all being together to divide up some of the family heirlooms. It was quite fun as we uncovered boxes of treasure - old glassware, linens, laces, dolls, and other fun old things. We also divided up some of the artwork done by both of my grandmothers. These were the most special pieces of all! We all had a great time together, (minus Nat, of course) and were there until almost 1:30am.

But that wasn't the only party going on that night.

While my siblings and I were all off dividing up grandma's treasures, the men were having a 24 marathon. Since Dennis had been laid up recovering from his knee surgery he has be watching several seasons of 24. Well, on Saturday when my two brothers-in-law came in to visit with Dennis who had his foot up and iced, they started watching with him. It was the start of season 3, and soon they were hooked! They had turned it off, such good righteous men, on Saturday night at midnight, and all decided that when the Sabbath was over, Sunday at midnight, they were turning it back on for an all night 24 marathon.

That is exactly what they did!

They were up all night, and continued well into Monday morning. They took turns taking a power nap here and there, but they stuck in there, kept pushing, and accomplished their goal! Victory was theirs!

I have no idea how all three of them fit into that tiny office all night long! I just know that I was in the next room trying to sleep to the sounds of tick-boom, tock-boom, tick-boom, tock-boom, all...night...long.

How is that for male bonding?

Meanwhile, all the cousins (minus the tiny ones) thought it would be a great idea to sleep out on the trampoline that night! All 12 of them!

They had a great time, and I got up early in hopes of snapping a few pictures of them as soon as it got light enough. But they rose even earlier than I did, because by the time I got out there, they were all coming in the house where they all found a place on the sofa for cartoon watching.

It was just so fun to see all these cousins all bundled up on the sofa together! We never had cousins growing up, and so it does my heart so good to see my kids having so much fun with all of their cousins! They all get along so well, and love being together!

Cousins are awesome! Family is the best!

I love it!!!

Day three of our Independence Days celebrations was about to begin!

For us, the very best and most anticipated part of this holiday is the big breakfast and water fight!

By big breakfast, we mean BIG! Big, big waffles with homemade buttermilk syrup (you will DIE when you taste this stuff!) with tons of fruit and whipped cream (red, white, and blue, of course), and brown sugar bacon (get ready because the picture alone will seriously clog your arteries!)

We are dead serious about our Independence day breakfast!!!!

OK folks, here it is. The Dad's famous brown sugar bacon!!! Is that just cruel for me to show you this, or what?

The trick, we have found, is to use the pre-cooked bacon, pile with brown sugar, and throw it in the oven until crispy brown.

HEAVEN!

The adults preferred the large round Belgium waffles, while the kids went with the rectangle ones because they could make them look like flags with a field of blueberry stars, and strawberry and whipped cream stripes. But in this case, they are not stars and stripes forever, since they don't even last 3 minutes before they are devoured!

Of course it was nearly noon by the time breakfast was ready, but it was SO worth the wait! In fact, Lisa fed the kids hot dogs before, just to hold them off until breakfast! :) (And if they got full, then good - all the more bacon for us!)

Just LOOK at that look of pure sublime satisfaction on Dennis' face eating that brown sugar bacon! He was savoring every sweet and salty, greasy and crunchy bite!

We all made room for seconds...and thirds.

Then, while the adults digested our bountous meal, the kids entertained themselves by jumping from the plaything onto the trampoline. We soon discontinued this game, but not before snapping a few fun pics.

Mindy and Ben. What a cute couple! Look at them snatching a big kiss in the middle of the water fight! They got their priorities straight! Glad to have them all here!

There was a whole lot of water being sprayed around way before the water fight began. We were hoping the kids would run out of ammo before the battle, but they never did!

The battle was just a continuation of the battle of the ages:

...grown ups...

...against kids!

Mom convinced Alex and Nathan that now that they are teenagers, they belong on the adult team. Mom thought this will a brilliant war strategy since Alex has earned himself the nichname of "the Machine" throughout the years of waterfights. He goes and goes and does not stop, and his favorite target is Grandma! But having them on our team turned out to be a bad idea, as about halfway though the fight they switched sides and started soaking their elders!

Eighteen. The new grown-up age is 18. Period!

Sure, they look all small, innocent, and harmless...

But watch out!

They are RUTHLESS!

They fought, and they fought, and they fought, until everyone was completely soaked, and then they insisted they won.

But I got footage of the carnage, and it is pretty clear who eventually suffered the most casualties. (Please notice the random foot in the top right corner.)

Once again, the adults claim the victory!

Suckkas!

So that was our 3rd, 4th, and 5th celebration.

I love this country and I love my family, and I can't think of a better way to celebrate our freedom and this God-given land of promise than with my family!

God bless the U.S.A.!!!

Sit down. Relax. Put Your Feet Up.

On Wednesday Dennis had some arthroscopic surgery on his knee. His knee has been bothering him for a while now, and has been getting worse and worse to the point where he stopped going to taekwando a few months ago, and though he kept playing basketball, he was not enjoying himself as much as he usually does because his knee pain was bothering him too much. It was time.

All went well. The surgeon went in there and cleaned up and smoothed out the torn up cartilage and drained the fluid. This should really help. The surgery was pretty short, but it took forever for Dennis to wake up after. In fact the guy who had his surgery after Dennis was awake and sent home before Dennis woke up. The nurse said that is typical for folks that don't drink - she calls them "cheap dates." Cheap dates' bodies aren't used to drugs so they are more sensitive to them. When he was finally awake enough to understand, the doctor sent Dennis home with strict instructions to keep his foot up for 72 hours, and not to remove the dressing in that time.

(He was looking a little too forward to having his feet up, of you ask me.)

So for three days Dennis sat on the bed or his massage chair in his office, supported by a dozen pillows - the lap of luxury! He had the remote in one hand (managed to get through the 2nd season of 24), and his new iPad in the other one (downloaded a ton of apps). He was surrounded by a tall stack of his log cabin magazines, his cell phone, my laptop, and food and drink were brought to him in bed.

He was loving it that first day, milking it for everything he could. It was the life he always wanted - spend all day in bed with all your toys around you, being waited on hand and foot, and having all the time in the world. Sweet. That is really Dennis' idea of a vacation. He always says how nice it would be to stay in bed all day and do nothing but watch TV and eat - no where to be, nothing to do. The good life.

Well, that enjoyment lasted for a whole day before he got sick of being stuck in bed. He would see something that needed to be fixed and it would bug him to no end that he couldn't just jump up and get it done. He would sit in his office where he could see the kids playing in the backyard, running in and out leaving the back door wide open in the heat. He called me from his cell phone a few times to tell me to tell them to shut the back door. He got sick of sitting in the same position, and was dying to just roll onto his side. He knocked his water over several times trying to reach his crutches, and then had to wait for someone else (me) to clean it up. One of his employees quit while he was out. And Mr. Two-showers-a-day was dying to get in the shower again!!

Sitting with his feet up just wasn't what he thought it would be. The fact is, Dennis is a doer. He just likes to get things done and as much as he thinks about how great it would be to do nothing, the fact is, he is just not cut out for a life of leisure.

So when that 72 hours was up, exactly, to the hour, that wrapping was off! It was really quite silly that his entire leg, from his thigh to his heal was wrapped because when we unwrapped there were just three tiny incisions on his knee - nothing a few little band-aids couldn't cover. I guess it just made it look more impressive to have it all wrapped up like that. After watching that final hour of 24 (the suspense was killing him more than the need to take a shower) Dennis finally got his shower, and came out feeling like a new man. He tossed the crutches, and got dressed and went to Costco. Yes, Costco (his favorite place). He is there right now and I am worried about him. I remember being very pregnant with the twins and going to Costco thinking I would be just fine. But when I got all the way to the back of the store I was so tired and miserable that the thought of having to walk ALL THE WAY back to the front of the store made me want to cry! It might as well have been a marathon!

(Hope he doesn't over-do it, because neither of us wants him to have to do this again.)

Welcome back, my able-bodied, fully-active (kind of), and freshly-showered husband!

** Well, he came back from Costco, and even though he toodled around in the cart, he over-did it and is back with his foot up again... for just a little while longer.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I just had a birthday! I turned 38 and the celebrations went on for over a week. Nice, huh? It started several days before my actual birthday because my dear friend Alysa was going to be out of town, so she wanted to make sure I got my celebration before she left. She made arrangements for a few friend to have lunch at Jackalope Ranch. That place is beautiful!!! But the food and service were pretty disappointing. It is a good thing the company was so great to make up for it. Here I am with my sweet friends Heidi and Alysa...

And here with my cute friend Jenie (There was no one around to take pictures so we had to do it in shifts.) Thank you ladies for a wonderful early birthday lunch!

My birthday itself was good, but also somewhat of a disappointment. It started early, as I had to drive Alex to the pioneer trek at Riley's farm in Oak Glen at the crack of dawn. That was actually very fun. I brought my camera and stayed several hours to take pictures of the kids and visit with some neat people (including that cute lady above) and wait for them to take off on their trek. I wanted SO bad to be joining them, but apparently I was not invited. Hmmm. It was fun, and I took some great pictures, and it was so nice to be outside.

Then, the fun didn't stop there because I stopped at the outlet mall on the way home, specifically to visit my favorite store - Brighton - and I happened upon a HUGE clearance sale where I got myself some sunglasses, a hat, 3 cute belts, and a handful of other little things. They must have known it was my birthday somehow. Happy Birthday to me!

As great as it is to go shopping without kids, it is 100 times better to go shopping with a friend. Oh well.

When I got home, Dennis surprised me by taking my computer in to have the memory doubled which is wonderful because it had been running very slow for some time due to all the pictures. It runs so much smoother now!!! Yay!

So far, so good, right? Well, I was home that afternoon, and the cabinet builder was there putting some built-ins in the dining room, which was very nice until I heard a huge CRASH and the unmistakable sound of shattering glass! He had put in a corner hutch to display my very favorite big pieces of milk glass. He had already installed it, put my milk glass into it, and then he was doing some finishing touches (which included hammering!) and the top shelf came crashing down on the shelves full of milk glass below it! It was a sickening sound. In all, my 3 favorite pieces - large, gorgeous footed compotes; the kind you display promenantly in a corner case - were smashed. Happy birthday to me! I didn't know what to say (he felt so bad, but then again so did I) so I just went to get the trash can instead. It isn't like you can just go replace something like that - they had all been lucky finds at garage sales over the past 10 years. Boo hoo hoo.

Luckily, the Bruners cam over shortly thereafter with some roses in a milk glass vase, so that was a start, right? They were so sweet to think of me!

I also got gifts, phone calls, cards, and about a million birthday messages on Facebook, which was really fun.

For dinner we wanted to do something different, so Dennis, my parents, and I went to the Crab Pot in the LQ cove. It was a beautiful evening so we decided to sit out on the patio. It was a fun place. They just put some butcher paper down on the table, then dump a bucket of seafood and veggies- crab, clams, mussels, scallops, red potatoes, and corn - right on the table. It was fun and pretty tasty. Unfortunately, it didn't take long before the flies descended from out of no where. It got pretty bad, and the people that worked there said it usually never gets this bad. Lucky us. The citronella candles they gave us didn't help a bit, and the flies didn't seem to be bothering anyone else. It was bad! Finally, they moved us inside, which was better.

After dinner we all walked around Old Town. There were no flies.

When we got home, the boys surprised me with a big birthday banner, and the little ones had gifts that they had made for me. Dylan had sculpted me a heart with he and I inside. I LOVE his sculptures!!! Then he painted a gift box black and glued white buttons on it so I could use it in my craft room. Very clever! Caleb gathered up some special gifts for me, and a made a cute card. He is such a good card maker - just like his Mom. Luke took a wood lid from a box I had, and filled with with shreds of paper. Under the paper was a little green spider ring - just for me. He was so excited to give it to me, and I wore it the rest of the evening. It must have crawled away, because I don't know where it went.

The other boys were watching TV.

Then, the other bad thing happened on my birthday. That night as I was trying to download all my pictures from the day including the pictures of the Pioneer Trek and the dinner with the flies, my card somehow got erased! No pictures anywhere to be found! I was very upset. That has never happened to me before. Luckily, I had just put in a fresh card that morning, so only the pictures from this one day had disappeared, but it was still a ton of pictures - GONE! Happy Birthday to me!

(The above pictures of the boys was actually re-taken on Sunday - thus the white shirts and ties.)

Overall, though it was a nice birthday.

But it wasn't quite through yet. The celebrations carried over a week when last Friday, Shari and Tara took Roxanne and I out to celebrate both of our birthdays. We had lunch on the patio at a little French place on El Paseo (no flies this time), then we went to get our toes done. What fun we had!!! I love those ladies!

So from looking at pictures of both of my birthday lunches I must ask, do I have some gorgeous friends or what? Thank you all ladies for taking the time to help me celebrate!

Oh, one more thing. Yesterday, as part of my birthday present, my darling husband got up at the crack of dawn to go get in line at the AT&T store to get me my new iPhone that I have been pining for since Luke threw my last one in the spa 2 MONTHS ago. I had decided rather than run out and by a new one, to just hang in there until the new iPhone 4 came out. There were some delays , but it finally came out yesterday, and my hero husband got one for me!!! I LOVE it! It feels so good to be connected again! Thank you, Honey! You rock!

So that was my week-long birthday celebration. It was a great one, despite the broken glass, erased SD card, and all the flies. It was great friends, great family, and a great hubby that made up for all of that! Thank you everyone! Happy Birthday to me!