First, we had a family party where we all played Bunco. I had never played before, so I learned how and taught everyone else. We had a great time!
You rotate to a different table every 10-15 minutes, so it is fun to get a chance to play with everyone!
Everyone is deep in thought. Thinking about how to compute the probability of rolling 3-of-a-kind of a specific number with 3 die. It's clearly not very likely. Nonetheless, we (all 19 of us) rolled 12 Buncos in just 2 games!
We figured out that this game requires neither strategy or skill. Luck is all you could hope for.
It was a fun thing to do with the family!
One of the best parts about birthdays these days is all the cards I get from my nieces, nephews, and kids of my own. You can see that they are so proud of them. And they hope that I notice every little detail. They are adorable!
Grant and Eli drew me crosses and rainbows, and stick people with belly buttons, and even a maze!
My kiddos have gone all technological on me, and they create their cards on the computer, print them up and then embellish them with stickers and candy! I love these kids!
My hubby made a wonderful dinner for the whole family by smoking a beef brisket, and we all had a great time, but much to my surprise, the fun did not end there. Steve and the kids had secretly prepared a performance in my honor. Watch this video to see that I am truly blessed to married to this man and to be a mom to these fabulous kids. I will cherish this forever!
After a great evening of celebrating with family on Sunday evening, I had lunch plans with my great friend, Julie Berger, on Monday! I was hoping that the 1000-year Flood was not going to interrupt our plans, and it didn't! We still sent our kids off to school, even when it was optional.
What I didn't know is that Julie had much more planned for me than just lunch. It was a surprise party! There were 12 other friends there waiting for me to arrive!!!
As I look around the room, I see each of my friends that took the time to make this a really special day for me. I couldn't believe they were all there! Especially Kerry, she drove from Tucson!
I have another favorite dessert these days. Julie introduced me to "Tuxedo Cake". And I got to enjoy the leftovers for the next couple days!
I love to see this gathering of ladies. They are all friends from church who have, at one time or another, been in a small group bible study with me. As I think about it, I can give God the full glory for strategically placing each of them in my life to mold me and guide me. I am so thankful for each of them. And I know we were missing some other friends that day - I'm thankful for them too! God has used small groups to minister and speak into my life as only He could orchestrate, and He does that through ladies such as these. Thank you, friends!
Here they are: Alissa, Julie, Lisa, Jen, Vicki, Tambra, Kristin, Suzanne, me, Natalie, Kerry, Krista, and Amy. My hubby worked closely with Julie in planning this, so when he told me that he had a meeting at work, he actually was headed over to go babysit a bunch of little kids so that their moms could be here at my party. I am truly blessed!
I had another surprise that evening (but I didn't take any pictures). My good friend, Allie, was so sad that she could not be at my surprise party, that she invited my whole family over for dinner that night! Steve and the kids blindfolded me and drove the long way to their house, so I could not figure out where I was going, and then I heard Allie's voice! I, again, felt so loved! Who does that?!? I love spending time with her and her hubby and precious kiddos. Thank you, Allie!
Ok, so all these celebrations happened before my real birthday. I had another great treat on Tuesday, my real birthday! But, again, I did not take any photos - sorry. My mom planned a lunch date with 6 wonderful ladies in our family. I had a great lunch with my mom, Chris (my mother-in-law), Lisa (my sister-in-law), Amy (another sister-in-law), Lori (my cousin), and Debbie (my aunt). I highly recommend Joyride Tacohouse in Gilbert - it was delicious! But the best part was spending time with these great women who I am blessed to call family.
To top it all off, Steve and the kids and I went out to enjoy some frozen yogurt to celebrate our family-wide win in fantasy football that week. All four of our fantasy teams won! Plus it was my birthday, so who can turn down free fro-yo!?!
Thank you to everyone for making my birthday a really special one. It was a great start to a whole new decade!!!
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