Nathan's 30th birthday surprise #6

Books!  Could he be any happier?  From my parents, Nathan received the complete works of John Owen.  At first he though the book company sent all 16 volumes to him by mistake (and was getting mad just thinking about the return shipping fees for such a heavy box).  After all, he'd been eyeing this classic collection for over a year and had even put them in his virtual shopping cart.  However, he scouts honor swore that he didn't buy them.  The first picture is of the exact moment I told him they were a gift from my mom and dad.  It's a look of genuine surprise! :)

Nathan's 30th birthday surprise #5

Jeff and Hannah Heck told us that they're expecting their first baby. Congratulations!

Jim and Courtney are getting married on 10-4.  Can't wait!

Jen, Jen, Hannah, Will, and Janna.  Great friends!

Hostess Beverly and me!

Newlyweds and neighbors Aaron and Becky make an appearance. :)

Baby Oliver takes a gander at his new friend Sophia.  Moms Laura and Aubrey and dad J.R.  hope for a play date soon.

Carter and his first underage Facebook friend Joy share a special moment.

Liz sure does enjoy that delicious home made mint chip ice cream...

Andrew, why are you all wet?

Luke, Laura, and baby Oliver enjoy the party.

Emma, Sally, and Laura support Nathan in his old age.

Joyfee and me.  Joy, I think this should be your new Facebook profile picture.  That girl you're with now is entirely too pretty.

Yay for friends!

The grillers.  Such pals!

Holy cow.  This one was tough to pull off.  The weather was horrid and the president was in town, thus shutting down several roads during rush hour.  Nathan kept pestering me about a surprise party, and I had the toughest time making up excuses and lies.  It all came apart when Nathan spotted the Henry's 15 passenger van out front, with kids piling out and rushing into Bev and Natalie's house.  Anyway, I think it was successful despite the setbacks.  We grilled out (the Kirbys and David grilled out under umbrellas!) and had cake and home made ice cream.  Yum!  Thanks to Beverly and Natalie for hosting the big event, and thanks to all who made it to support Nathan!

Nathan's 30th birthday surprises #3 and #4

I also surprised him on the morning of his birthday with breakfast for him and the staff at church.  I forgot to take pictures, but we had pastries (thanks Robin!), juice (thanks Beryl!), potato casserole, fresh fruit salad, and lots of bacon.

Later in the day, his best childhood friend, Ryan, surprised him with a visit at our house! 

Nathan's 30th birthday surprise #2

Okay, this one wasn't a surprise, but we had a lovely dinner at his folks' house to celebrate.  I made his favorite chicken and gravy, and his mom and sister supplied the rest of the meal.

Nathan's 30th birthday surprise #1

I popped into the youth room at dinner time to surprise Nathan with birthday popsicles.  The kids sang the traditional birthday song in addition to "Skip Around the Room."  Good times...

My trip to Cali

Grandma, Mom, and I went out to lunch in a cute new place in Taft (the only cute place?) called Cali's. Tasty sandwiches! We drove in my grandma's hot new Mazda.


Here's Dad and his Wicked playbill. What an amazing show!
Yes, that's an unknown team member, John Legend, and my mother at LAX at 2:30 in the morning. John is showing signs of fatigue while Mumers is looking quite chipper. John was totally without a posse and caught the shuttle to parking lot C just like the rest of us!

My dad and I went to see Wicked at the Pantages theatre in LA. My friend and neighbor Becky (the new bride a few blog entries down) lended me the CD so I could be familiar with the music before the show. Thanks Becky!


Dad and I went to an Italian restaurant called Spumoni before hitting traffic. We also went dress shopping at Steinmart and got a few treats at Ralph's to sneak into the theatre. We enjoyed munching on Red Vines and Vitamin Water.

Me and Kelee... sunless, makeup-less. We're still cute though, right?

Amy Erickson, the best hugger around. She looks gorgeous! She and I exposed my dad to Arrested Development for the first time. He fell asleep at the funniest parts, which was very sad to me, but Amy and I had a good time nonetheless.

One goal down...

Done

and done!

Back from Cali

Why is it such a journey to get home?  It took me longer to get to Bakersfield than it did to Jerusalem.  Delays, lost luggage, airport runway gridlock...

Celebrity sightings: I saw John Legend getting off the plane in LA.  My sister saw the Jonas brothers.  They're kind of hard to miss with millions of screaming girls swooning around them.

Anyway, I had such a fantastic visit there with my family.  I have pictures, but I'm posting on Bev's computer, which is a Mac, and I don't know how to do anything on it except type.  Pictures will come later I suppose.  Maybe when Natalie gets home. :)

Until then...