Fun Birthday Week!

I don't even know where to begin; I have so much to catch up on. I'll start where I left off.....My birthday was a couple of weeks ago and it was so fun! It didn't only last 1 day, it was the whole weekend. The other thing that made it really fun was that my friends Alysa and Denice had their birthdays on the 21st and the 23rd so we spent a lot of the weekend together and celebrated our birthdays together this year. Nonie, our sweet friend from our ward, took Alysa, Denice & I out to lunch at Cosi's on Friday afternoon and it was so fun to just have some "girl" time and laugh and hang out with those guys. Denice kept our kids later on that night and Cody and I went on an actual date! It was wonderful! It had been a while so we used that time to get reacquainted and went to Outback and actually sat down and talked for a while. It was great and we really appreciated Denice volunteering to watch our kids. We have a lot of fun with their family and the kids had a great time hanging out with them. We have such wonderful friends!

The next day was my birthday and we had a baby shower at the Cheesecake Factory which was so fun to spend some more time with so many fun friends. Cody met me at the mall and didn't complain once (Happy Birthday to me:) ). We went over to Whitlock's to spend the evening and had a great time! We had a barbecue and watched a movie outside and visited and played games. It was a really great day and that makes it even more memorable to spend the day with friends who mean so much to us.

The next day we went over to Cody's mom's house and had a barbecue. It was so fun and I have to say, it wasn't even that bad turning another year older this year. Cody doesn't let me forget though, that I'm now older than him again. My legs got slammed in the car door from the wind this last week and my knees were pretty sore so I was walking kind of funny for a couple of days and Cody attributed it all to me getting older. I guess I'm probably not as young as I think I am, but I'm still getting around pretty good. :) In December, he'll catch back up again....

It was really fun to think back on what a great year it's been, in spite of all the challenges. I really don't know what we'd do without all of our family and friends who stick by us through good and bad. I know that really keeps us going and even though things aren't optimal, they're getting better and we're making it! I have some really wonderful friends who are always there to pick us up when we need it! I'm amazed at how there are days that things just aren't going well and I'm about to lose it and I'll get an email, or a phone call or a letter in the mail or something from someone. I know that during our times of trial, the Lord really strengthens us through the people around us and I know that it's true for us! I count our blessings every day that we have such great people around us to bring us up! I know we're going to be okay, but it's through our friends and family that we get the love and support that we need to keep going. I'm so glad that I know we're definitely not alone in our struggles and I find comfort and peace in that every day! It was a wonderful birthday and I'm thankful for this past year because it really has made me grateful for everything that I have and has made me even more aware of how blessed I am! I'm just hoping for another great year, minus a little drama! :)