My Birthday/Father's Day

Well, the title says a lot. My birthday was on Father's Day, which really isn't all that unique, it has been happening every few years for my entire life (yep, all 29 years.) The weird thing is, this year I felt even MORE obligated to honor Jeff (as the father of my children) than I have on all the other years the two have happened to fall on the same day. When this would happen in the past I would tell him that the fact that I was born kind of trumped the fact that he was a father. I mean, if I wasn't born, he wouldn't be a father (at least not the father of my kids). ;)

So this year, I found a way to make it about both of us.

First, a few days before my birthday my awesome neighbors threw a party for me and we had a big BBQ in my backyard. It was really nice, and really fun. Here are some pictures I took.

You're welcome.

On Father's Day/My Birthday my mom came up to celebrate with us. I suggested dinner out in Tooele with my grandma because I figured she might be alone and missing my grandpa, too. (Turns out she forgot it was Father's Day and thought we were just celebrating my birthday, which you know works for me because the world revolves around me.)

I chose to have us skip church because I may be strong, but I am not superhuman! (I had actually substituted in Primary the week before, and they were practicing their Father's Day song and the leader told them to point to their dad's at the end of the song. Then she had them practice that by pointing to where their dad might be sitting if he were in the audience. When I saw Gage point at the ceiling, that was about all I could take. Kids are awesomely resilient, but their mama's aren't always!)

So instead of church, we went to the cemetery and did a balloon release. (We were talking about balloon releases in my grief support group and I said "Who keeps a helium tank on hand all the time except clowns and widows.") And we also took the bottle of "champagne" Jeff got for completing chemo. It turned out, that bottle needed an actual old fashioned bottle opener, it wasn't a screw top. So after trying everything I could to pry it off, and my attempt to break the top of the neck off by hitting it against a tree, Courtney took matters into her own hands and walked it over to the curb and smashed the top off. It sprayed all over, which I expected, but the kids hadn't, so that was pretty funny. Then I poured it into paper cups, and checked it carefully for glass, and then we had a little toast. There was only enough left after the spraying that we each got a little sip, but that was okay because we all decided it was nasty!

Then we drove out to Tooele to have dinner with my grandma, my mom, and Kim and Warren's family. It was delicious. Here are some pictures.

You're welcome.

I decided since I had the tank in the car, and because the balloon release was just me and the kids, that we would do a balloon release for my grandpa, too, so that my mom and Mia (who came up with her) could participate too.

You have to look harder to see the balloons in this picture, but the sky is just amazing!

Much love to all the wonderful men who have changed my life. My dad, my husband, my grandpas, my brothers, my father in law, my brothers in law, and many wonderful friends. And many thanks to all of those wonderful men who are still showing my kids that there are good men in the world who are here to love and support them and be great examples to them.

(p.s. I am actually 37 years young!)