30? When Did That Happen?

I'm a 30-something.

Let's say that again, maybe it will sink in.

I'm a 30-something.

Yes, today is my 30th birthday. I'm actually really looking forward to this next decade, as I imagine our growing family will make every day an interesting one. Just think, within the next ten years I will be finished having children, and one (or more) of them will be in elementary school, one (or more) of them will be baptized, we may have moved on to a new part of the country, we'll probably have a new home, new jobs, who knows. It's a lot to look forward to.

Since my birthday fell on a Sunday this year, Oliver surprised me by giving me my gift on the Friday before. And what did he give me? The gift of time. What do I mean by that? Well, when we woke up he gave me a card with a detailed schedule of the day's events. He arranged for Julie and Bonnie to drop their kids off here so the three of us could have some time out without the little ones. And I have to say he's a brave man for voluntarily taking on two five-month-olds and a five-year-old at once. We drove to the mall and spent about an hour-and-a-half just walking around and chatting uninterruptedly. Then I headed off to a day spa nearby for a hydrotherapy treatment and massage. You start off in a huge deep hot tub with jets that cycle up your body several times. While you're soaking a therapist lightly massages your hands, forearms, feet, calves, and scalp. So great for a bathtub-lover like me, and it's the perfect way to get your muscles relaxed for a full-body massage. It's been quite awhile since I've had a massage and it was soooo nice. When I got home, we took Clara over to David and Bonnie's house for the evening, and Oliver and I went out to dinner at PF Changs and saw Shrek the Third. It was a rejuvenating kind of day, and it was great to spend some time with just Oliver.

Awhile ago Oliver had informed me that I had to have a party for my 30th, and that it should be a huge celebration like his was last year. I had to keep reminding him that, being the introvert I am, big parties are not my thing. He finally capitulated and we had a small group over this evening for a Coldstone ice cream cake...yum. Bruce, Julie, & Colter, David, Bonnie, & Michael, Pete, Mika, Lauren, & McKenzie, and Fiona, Nuala, & Bran (Zachariah was out-of-town) joined us for a happy little celebration filled with noise (lots of it), babies (4 five-month-olds and 2 thirteen-month-olds), and Colter's pirate/Voltron/Transformer/Animaniacs stories. The perfect way to bid a farewell to my twenties.

And since no post is complete without a few photos, here are some fun shots from the evening:

Hey, I was looking at that!

How many babies can YOU hold?

An attempt to get a picture of all the little ones...with many tears ensuing.

Just a cute girl with her daddy.