Best Birthday Ever?

It just might have been.  The kids and I played Hang Man the Sunday after my birthday, and when it was my turn that was the three-word phrase I chose.  I was very spoiled this year, really for a couple of weeks.  Sigh.  Now I have had some time for all the fury to die down, and am ready to memorialize this exceptional birthday.
It all started a few weeks before my birthday, when Sam took me to an NBA playoff game between the Nuggets and the Jazz.  Did I ask to go to a basketball game for my birthday this year?  No.  But in Sam’s special way, this was a real birthday treat.  Best part of the game:  the Nugget fan in front of us with a mullet and a plumber’s crack.

During one of the few favorable calls for the Jazz, this choice fan yelled, “Ref’s a Mormon” repeatedly.  Sam then proceeded to lean forward and said, “The Jazz players aren’t Mormons just because they live in Utah.  I’m a Mormon, but the Jazz aren’t Mormons.”  It was a bit awkward and uncomfortable for a moment, especially since we were surrounded by Nugget fans.  But really, any sporting event with Sam is bound to include a moment similar to that one. 
A bit closer to my birthday, my sweet friend Becca organized a surprise birthday party for me on Friday, the 8th.  Last year she organized a fun get together with a group of friends at a restaurant.  I was very surprised, and had a lot of fun, and tried to convince Bec that she really couldn’t top what she did last year, and that it wasn’t necessary for her to even try.  Well, I think she took that as a bit of challenge, and top it she did.  She lured me over to her house with the promise of a quiet evening with just the two of us, and instead surprised me with a whole bunch of my friends and their spouses, and a surprise visit from my mom!  Becca, Becca, everyone needs a friend like Becca.  Here is the group waiting for me (I was about 20 minutes late, but I thought I was only keeping Becca waiting if that makes my tardiness less offensive) --
 
And me walking in.  These are vey funny to me, because I am totally looking at Becca like, “I can’t believe you lied to me.  And I can’t believe I fell for one of your surprises AGAIN.”
 
Then the crowd parted, and there was my mother.  I was totally shocked, and started crying.  It was a very good surprise.

There was a ton of delicious food.  Becca’s husband Ryan described it well when it said it was like a wedding reception spread.  Everyone ate and visited and ate some more.  And then, if the surprise and spread of food weren’t enough, Becca had put together a DVD slideshow of pictures my mom had compiled and my sister-in-law Lisa scanned of my past 30 years of life.  It was long, and I’m sure only interesting to me, my mom, Sam, and a few kind females present at the party who love me.  My cute mom had picked some hilarious pictures of me, and my kids have enjoyed watching the DVD over and over since the party.  I’m sure it took Becca, who is expecting her 4th boy in a few weeks, hours and hours.  She really is an amazing friend.  To top it all off, Bec put together a book that she gave me on my actual birthday of letters the party-goers had written, and pictures of all the guests. 
 
Here are my friends who kindly gave up a Friday night and came to celebrate with me:
   
Yeah, it was a really wonderful night.
Now, to my actual birthday.  It involved a lot of food.  More specifically, a lot of dessert.  I wouldn’t have had it any other way.  Sweet Mina drove all the way from Highlands Ranch to bring me, among other things, 13 mini-bundt cakes from a store called Nothing Bundt Cakes.  I ate all 13 in 24 hours. 

Mina has come to see me for every birthday, on my birthday, since we have both been in Colorado.  I can’t imagine celebrating a birthday without her.  Mina is having Baby #3 in October.  So very excited for her and her family.

Becky had me and the kids over for a delicious meal, and some chocolate cake.  She knows me so well.
 
Becky, also expecting Baby #4, gave me those lovely flowers behind me.  It was lovely spending the afternoon with her and her cute kids. 

Then that night we had my friend Jessica, who also celebrated a birthday on May 13th and whose husband was out of town, come over with her kids for pie and ice cream.

I also enjoyed visits on my birthday, combined with thoughtful gifts, from several other dear friends.   I truly felt so very loved.  Sam put together a book of all the email messages we wrote to each other while we were engaged and he was in Washington D.C. and I was finishing up at BYU.  He spent hours scanning in the emails at work and then re-formatting them and printing them out on nice resume paper.  He then compiled them into a nice red leather-bound album. 
 
It was such a fun and thoughtful gift, and I have loved reading those emails and remembering how we felt about each other while we were engaged.  Sam went the sentimental route this year for both Mother’s Day and my birthday, and I really do appreciate his efforts.  Love him.  My parents and Sam’s parents gave me money, and I am determined to use it to buy some new clothes.  Lisa and Justin gave me a beautiful custom necklace with the names of my kids on it.  I love it.  But really, the prize for the best gift of the year has to go to Ellery, largely because of its thoughtfulness, but mostly because it was put together solely by her, my 7-year old daughter.  A few weeks before my birthday Elle asked me for the Ward list, and then closed herself up in the bathroom with the phone.  After a little prodding I found out that she was making phone calls to my friends in an effort to put together a surprise for me for my birthday.  I wasn’t sure what she was up to, or asking of these people, so I told Sam about it and encouraged him to make sure it wasn’t asking too much of people.  From that point on, Sam did help her compile phone numbers of some friends, but the idea was purely Ellery’s, and she made all of the calls.  I was beyond touched when Ellery presented me with a shoebox full of cards from family and friends for my birthday.  People really came through, largely because they didn’t want to disappoint Ellery I think.  In fact, a couple of people used Fed-Ex to get their cards and letters here on time, and my friend Sara Becker over-nighted hers and included a little gift for Ellery.  The cards were all wonderful, and meant so much to me.  Early on in our marriage, Sam and I had a little game going where he would ask me what I wanted for a particular event/holiday, and I would say nothing, and then be crushed when he actually gave me nothing for that event.  I finally told him that all I wanted was a card, that gifts weren’t necessary, but that my  mom has always been so good about giving and sending cards for important events, and that signified that some effort was expended on my behalf.  So I will always cherish all of the cards I received for my 30th birthday.  Thanks to any of you that participated in that effort. 
Now you know why I had such a wonderful birthday.  And now you know why I’m pretty sure it was the best birthday ever.  I feel very blessed.