It's official

I am officially no longer a "20-something", which is what my blessed nephew Scott guessed my age to be on my birthday last week!  I had a fantastic birthday, kicked off with this little surprise at the beginning of last week: an invitation to join Jake on a business trip to New Orleans.  YEAAA!!! We just got home from that little delight last night, more to come on that later on.  But it was a fabulous way to start the week!

My actual birthday fell on a BSF day, so we picnicked afterwards with the Joneses like every week, and enjoyed a gorgeous day!

 Lindsey commented that we have no pictures that include the two of us moms. So another mom at the park took a picture.  My birthday is also the anniversary of Lindsey and I being friends.  Last year on my birthday, I met her at music time at the community center.  We hit it off, and I asked for her email address.  Then I asked her on a date.  Just kidding.  Actually, I'm not kidding.  We did have a playdate the next week! But it's fun to know exactly what day you met someone and always be able to remember it.  SO thankful for this girl and the blessing she has been in my life- WHAT a precious friend she is.

Also on my birthday, this rose bloomed on my front steps.  It hasn't been a happy rose bush this summer, but it bloomed on my birthday. This is particularly special because my daddy used to give my sister and I a rose every year on our birthday.  Amazingly, she has a rose bush that blooms its first perfect, beautiful bloom right around, if not on, her birthday every year... and her birthday is in late May.  Pretty neat stuff.

On my actual birthday night, Jake gave me this book. On the cover is a picture of my daddy and I when I was two.

Inside are letters and pictures from 30 family members and friends that Jake got in touch with to create this precious, amazing scrapbook. Jake included my dad's photo, saying that even though my dad couldn't write be here to write a letter, the legacy he left behind and the parts of what he knows about my dad that he sees in me are evident in everyone else's letters. WOW, babe. Way to start the waterworks.  I am not a crier, but the stories and memories in this book made us both laugh and cry as we went through it together. Saying that I came away feeling humbled, grateful, and unbelievably blessed is an understatement.

Saying that I love my husband and am blessed beyond words to be his wife is an understatement as well! One final note on my birthday night: we finally made it to the new rooftop patio at a really neat local place called Trackside. I have been dying to go since it opened late spring, and we even had the entire roof and fireplace to ourselves for most of the evening.  Way to go, Jake Gross! I love you, babe!