My birthday

I am officially one year older! That's right...the big 34! I have always loved holidays and, yes, I consider my birthday a holiday. Actually, I just like any reason to celebrate...and celebrating life is the best kind of celebration. I have to be honest though, I was a little hesitant to anticipate this birthday for fear that I would be let down. You see...in Arizona I know all the places to go and have my birthday traditions. I knew this year would be different, but I also knew Jeff made it his mission to make sure I had fun, new traditions to look forward to. It all started when I woke up to a bouquet of red roses, a birthday balloon, and a card from my husband. I knew then that the day was going to be perfect because I already had the greatest gift I could have ever been given, Jeff.

Once I stumbled out of bed (I'm still getting used to the morning breakfast routine), I went to the kitchen where all my boys were making chocolate chip pancakes with berries for my birthday breakfast. They even placed candles in my pancakes for me to blow out.

After the kids left for school, Jeff took me out to get a pedicure...and he got one too! In Arizona, I would always meet up with my sister and niece to get a pedicure on my birthday. While I missed them, seeing Jeff in the salon definitely put a smile on my face.

 

For lunch, I had taken a quick poll from Facebook friends regarding cute, local restaurants. I received a couple recommendations for the Art City Trolley so we headed into Springville to give it a try. We were glad we did. It was delicious food at reasonable prices. We will definitely visit again.

 

 

Now what's a birthday without a little cake?! After we ate, we headed into Provo to visit the Sweet Tooth Fairy bakery where we picked up some cake bites. I really liked the lemon or chocolate peanut butter bite, but then again those are usually the flavors I like. Good thing because I wasn't disappointed!

 

 

 

Jeff had some errands to run in the Provo area and I was just happy to be along for the ride. I feel truly blessed to be able to spend time with my husband. I know we're lucky because of the flexibility of his work schedule. We finished his errands with enough time to drive up Provo Canyon. I was hoping we could go on a little hike...but I forgot that I wasn't in AZ and that snow still exists in March in UT. Still we parked the car and were able to walk along a bike path and down to the river before the cold drove me back to the car to warm up and head home.

 







That evening, Jeff's parents and maternal grandparents came over to have dinner with us. Laurin, Amber and Jeff worked on dinner (which was the only birthday request I had...to not have to make dinner). It was delicious! We had roasted red potatoes, oven fried chicken, and salad. I then opened my gifts. The kids got me a book entitled Passage by Faith by James Christensen. He is an artist that I like and this book displays some of his work along with the explanations behind the paintings. Jeff got me a couple other books because he knows I'm a geek and enjoy reading. From Grandma and Grandpa Thompson, I got hot pad holders  and a cute Box of Cheer from Mom and Dad Southwick (it contained several little items like a chocolate bar and a sumo wrestler stress ball to help me maintain "cheer"). I also got cards with cash or gift certificates from my parents and siblings. Finally, the day ended with a yummy lemon cake (see, I told you I like lemon) that Laurin had made. It was an awesome birthday! Life is all about changes. I've made quite a few of those recently. Some have been a little more difficult for me to adapt to, but I couldn't have asked for a better birthday with new traditions and lots of love.