the rest of the story

Oh man--we recently upgraded to a faster modem and can I just tell you how much I love it?! It makes blogging so much better because the pictures can upload soooo much faster.

I wanted to post the rest of my birthday the other day because there were so many that put forth an effort to make it a great one for me. Thanks to everyone for texts, calls, etc. throughout the day!! Julie brought me a half dozen of the most delicious donuts from a new-ish donut shop in Draper called "Beyond Glaze." They look almost too good to eat, but we did. We took little bites out of each one to try them all, and I think my favorite one, at least that day, was the Key Lime Pie (bottom left). Or maybe the peanut butter and chocolate (bottom middle). No, no--it was the s'mores (bottom right). Of course you can't go wrong with maple, ganache(?), or nutmeg either. Thanks Julie!

These pictures show you what my new lens can do--zooming in on one tiny point in the picture. Love it!

We made plans to go out with Brenda and JD that night, and the kids were going to all be at Brenda's with a babysitter. Daren said he'd meet us there because he had a meeting that afternoon for one of his cases. When we got to Brenda's, we walked in and the babysitter was there with hot pizza on the counter for the kids, and then I rounded the corner to see a bunch of my friends, and all yelling SURPRISE! Brenda and Daren had planned this party for me, and I have to say it was a huge surprise--I didn't have the slightest clue anything was going on! What a blast we had!! Daren brought Pat's BBQ (the best bbq EVER!), Brenda, of course, had games planned, and my mom and dad put together the funnest dvd of pictures of me growing up until just recently. I know that was a lot of work--THANK YOU!!

Thanks to Brenda for taking pictures because my lens just wasn't the right one for taking pictures that night. These are the girls I have known and loved forever it seems like, and I'm the first of us to turn 40. These are the ones I'm going on a trip with this spring, and even though Megyn doesn't turn 40 until next year we are going to let her come too! ;)

Daren, JD, and brother Darren, laughing it up over the pictures of me from the 80's with my 80's big hair! Laugh it up--your days will be coming soon too!

Cute little Sydney, 10 months old.

It doesn't matter what kind of cake it is, but Brenda's signature always has been cinnamon bears on top!

The kids couldn't wait to dive into the cupcake cake.

Garrett's patience paid off, and this is my favorite picture I think I've taken in a long time! He was so excited to finally eat his piece of cake.

A huge THANK YOU to Daren, Brenda, and everyone else for making my birthday so memorable! I know it was a lot of work (and money!) and I had the best time. I'm sad that I didn't get a picture of me and Brenda together. Not that we don't already have a ton of them together, but you know. I guess turning 40 isn't so bad...but then again...