Happy 25th Birthday, Nick!

This morning Autumn & I woke up early so we could make some signs to put all over Nick’s door to celebrate his birthday.  That pink paper on the right hand side is supposed to be balloons…as you can tell drawing is definitely not one of my talents.  But it’s the thought that counts, right?

After work, Autumn & I went over to Mom & Dad’s to celebrate Nick’s birthday.  However, Autumn got spoiled (as usual) and Mom had gotten her some cute new church shoes b/c they were on sale.  Autumn was thrilled to have new shoes.

Nick requested shoyu chicken for dinner (Mom didn’t want to be in the picture).  She always does such a great job and is an amazing cook.  She got some bad news today, b/c she had to meet w/ her doctor and he told her she’s in the beginning stages of diabetes, so we’re going to have to help her eat better.  I need to start eating healthier, too.  We were glad to have Lexie & Andrew up to celebrate w/ us.  They drove up late last night to take Jon to the airport early this morning for a chiropractic conference, so they get to spend the rest of the week w/ us.

Dad kept saying he had some presents for Nick but wouldn’t tell us what they were and when he could open them.  After dinner, Mom finally made Dad go get the presents and bring them in.  Nick got an awesome edger so he can edge the lawn after he mows it!  Woo hoo!  LOL!  At least it was a useful gift.

Dad also got him an extension cord for the edger w/ this cool wheel thing you roll the cord around.  The kids were “helping” to untangle the extension cord.

Nick didn’t want a cake for his birthday, he wanted a blueberry pie (what’s w/ the guys in September wanting pies).  We sang to him and he blew out his candles and made a wish, but he wouldn’t tell us what it was (or else it won’t come true).  I love that we have traditions like getting to have your dinner on the special red plate w/ the Happy Birthday place mat and the Happy Birthday clown Mom painted forever ago.

Lexie brought up these cupcakes from The Cake Plate, and I had one of those for dessert instead of pie.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE me some frosting, but there was so much frosting on this that I had to take some of it off (which is UNHEARD of for me).  I’m usually of the mind set, “the more frosting…the better.”  But this frosting was so rich and piled so high on the cupcake that I had to take some off.

After dinner & dessert, Dad said he had turned on the hot tub and since the kids had been good and eaten their dinner he would take them out to swim.  They put on their suits and I took them outside while Dad went and put on his swimsuit.  I love that they are so cute w/ each other (most of the time).

I told them to hold hands and jump off the side of the hot tub into the pool.  They thought that was the funniest thing ever and kept doing it over and over.  I kept getting bit by mosquitoes, so we went in the house to see what was taking Dad so long.  He had eaten too much and ended up throwing up (poor Dad), so Mom went outside and watched the kids while they played in the hot tub.

I had to leave and go to a meeting for the big single adult conference that’s coming up in October.  I left my camera and told Lexie to take pictures of anything fun that happened while I was gone.  I found this picture on my camera when I got back.  I guess the kids had gone into Mom & Dad’s room to watch a movie.  Autumn took one end of the bed and Andrew took the other.  I finally left my meeting at 9:30 b/c I had to get Autumn home and into bed.

When we got home, this was waiting for me on the front door (in a box of course).  I had gone through and put my blog posts from 2008 into a book via Blurb.  I ordered it last week and was thrilled that it got here so fast!  It’s wonderful and worth EVERY.SINGLE.PENNY!!!  It ended up being 378 pages and w/ image wrap was $90.

$90 seems like a LOT of money (and it is).  But then I think about how much it would cost me to have all of my thousands of pictures printed out, how much it would cost to buy scrapbooking supplies, how much time it would take to scrapbook all those pictures, etc.  If I were just to print off each picture and each picture were a penny each (which they’re not…it’s usually about 9 cents a picture), I would be spending WELL over $1,000.  When I factor all of that in, $90 is super cheap to have my scrapbook and journal all rolled into one.  Not to mention Blurb does a great job and the books are super nice.  I already started on my 2009 book, but I had too many posts and pictures (their limit is 440 pages), so I had to split 2009 into 2 books.  I think I’m going to get this done every year and consider it my Christmas present to myself.  What better present is there than preserving your memories and thoughts for generations after you to enjoy?

I’m glad we got to celebrate Nick’s life today and how much we all love him.  He’s a very special person and I’m so thankful we get to have him as part of our family.

HAPPY 25th BIRTHDAY, NICK!!!