37!

Sunday I celebrated my 37th birthday... wow!!  When did I get old?!  Ok... I don't feel old and I really don't lament adding another year to my age.  With a few exceptions, each year has been better than the one before it and I have never wished to turn back time.  And this past year was no different.  I happily ushered in 38!


There was one thing I was really, really hoping to get for my birthday.  Unfortunately, it wasn't in the cards.  What I did get was an absolutely wonderful day with family that reminded me of how blessed I am.  Who can complain about that?!  Not me!!!

We started the day out perfectly with Mass.  What better way to start than with Christ?  After some back and forth, we finally decided to join Carl's sister and her family who were going down to a park on the Palouse River - Klemgard Park.  After a frantic 45 minutes of getting extra clothes, food, sunscreen, etc. thrown into bags and coolers - we headed out.

The kids had a wonderful time on the playground while the adults mostly visited. Carl and Dave got in on some baseball and volleyball action.  First up was fun on the slide... love those smiles!

 

Megan loves her shoes... she insisted on wearing her flip-flops... practical? No. pretty? Yes.

Swings were another favorite.  I think Lauren would literally spend an entire day in the swing if we allowed it.  She alternated between all four swings that were there...

Not so sure about Karen coming to push her...

Thinking that maybe it is ok...

 Another favorite was the tunnel.  The kids called it the bear cave for some reason...

Once the kids got tired of the playground (ok, it was the older kids, not the younger ones) and we ate a bit of lunch.  We headed down the road to a stocked pond to do a little fishing.

Lauren with her beautiful cousin, Anne

Smiles because she thought they caught a fish...

Learning the art of waiting...

Both Karen and Megan got to reel in a fish - they were so excited!! Unfortunately, my camera settings go messed up and none of those pictures came out... :(

We left the pond about 4pm to head home.  We had made plans to drive up Steptoe Butte and watch the sunset.  We got home about 5pm - in the 1hour and 15minutes we were home,  I managed to:

1. Make shortcakes for strawberry shortcake
2. Frosting for my cake
3. Carl and the girls frosted the cake
4. Whipped the whipping cream for the shortcake
5. Made the girls (and us) a small dinner
6. Ate
7. Bathed the kids (we wanted to check them good for ticks from being at the park)
8. Loaded all the food and kids back up in the car to head to the Butte by 6:15...

Whooo!!! I was tired and as we started driving, Carl & I were both looking at each other wondering if we were crazy for dragging the kids out yet again...  It ended up being a nice time, although we didn't really stay up there to watch the sunset.  I think we left about 20 minutes before that happened.

Cousins!  Grace is right between Karen and Megan in age

She could be a little boy in this picture... :)

The beautiful view of the Palouse from Steptoe Butte

So - a fabulous way to spend my birthday.  I. Am. So. Incredibly. Blessed!!