this coming weekend is my 30th birthday...ugh! but my wife planned a really special weekend to celebrate a bit early as i have a packed weekend with next week.
she arranged for my mother in law to watch the girls for an outing for the entire day. we started the day on saturday with a picnic out in the country about 40 miles into the middle of no-where with great mountain views. while we ate she read me a list of 30 reasons that she loves me. then we got in the car and headed to tyson's corner, an upscale shopping center near us. on the way she handed me a folder with notes that she had collected from a ton of my family and friends...a collection of memories and fond wishes. it was so amazing to sit there in the car and be loved on like that. it was also really cool to hear the voices of people from so many different seasons of my life. sometimes its hard in ministry when God puts you in community with people in big ways and then at some point moves you on. it was cool to hear all of those voices together.
when we got the mall she took me shopping (my favorite gift being a new timbuk2 messenger bag), and then to our favorite restaurant, Coastal Flats. we finished the evening with a movie. i couldn't have asked for a more thoughtful and terrific birthday celebration from my wife. she rocks...its ok that you are all jealous. :-)
to top the the weekend off, we had some money left over from what tricia set aside for our date...so we decided take the girls to the water mine. as we were standing in line ready to fork over our cash, a lady walked up to us and handed us free passes for our whole family! holy cow!! so after an afternoon of playing the the park we treated ourselves to some chipotle.
so now the weekend is over and i'm sitting on my couch gearing up for a super busy week, and my last few days of my 20's...