Turning 40 is a pretty big deal!! So the dilemma of what to do, what to do was weighing on me for the greater part of last year. It was late May/early June when I decided to plan Jon a surprise party. I reached out to Jon's two best friends and solidified a date before we were too far into summer and unable to find a time that worked for all of us. And I let the girls know what was up. Turns out that they're pretty awesome secret keepers. Jon and I had talked about wanting to invite these particular friends over for a salad bar, but we'd never gotten around to actually doing it. But with that in mind, this surprise party was going to be easy peasy. I'd do the salad bar and dessert (graham cracker crusts with pudding, whipped cream and berries on top), Rani offered to bring bread sticks and Christy volunteered to do fruit and dip. The most stressful part of all of this was Jon. Was he going to like the surprise? Well, once he knew who the company was he'd love it, but surprises aren't really his thing and in the end Jon basically set up for his own party. He started asking things like "should I put out the tiki torches?" "should I set up the picnic tables?" I'd been mowing the lawn all summer, but he did it the day of the party and with his attention to detail (edging and blowing away the grass afterward) it looked way better than what I'm capable of. About 30 minutes before the guests arrived he figured out what we were doing based on the menu and therefore was able to guess who was coming. And it was so fun! There were 10 kids and six adults and the mosquitos didn't bother us at all until the end.
Andrew got the kids playing No bears are out tonight!! Sophie's look of absolute terror when he jumped out of the bushes was rather priceless. And at that point she decided she was one and done. No need to play that ridiculous game anymore! Lydia asking for a sleepover with Claire. I love that she loves her! The Wasuita and Hiller boys played so cute together. Dinner was tasty, the company was great and dessert went over really well. The kids had ice cream cones so it was a win for everyone. I love that we're so comfortable with these friends. Great conversations. Joking around. Singing to Jon was fun, at least for the rest of us, even though he doesn't love the spotlight, but he endured it. My only regret was that we didn't take a picture with everyone. Next time!
On Sunday we celebrated Jon's birthday with carrot cake at Grandma and Grandpa Blackhurst's and sang the extended version of the birthday song. Once again, great food and great company.
And then it was Monday, and Pioneer day; Jon's actual Birthday. Jon spent a lot of time working in the basement (his way of honoring the Pioneers. Manual labor) and while he was down there his sweet little girls made a path of arrows leading from the basement door to Jon's side of the bed with a note and some candy buried under his pillow. Aren't they cute?!
Later in the afternoon we had a visit from Tophe with a gift for Jon. He'd gotten him art supplies for the art lessons Jon got for Father's Day from the girls. :) Such an awesome gift! And then Jon gave Lydia a school blessing before dinner. Which was pizza. We ate quickly so that we'd be done before Jon's family came over to celebrate. We had s'mores (to celebrate with his birthday buddy Elsa) and red cake (totally didn't botch it this year!), and fireworks. Jon's family is notorious for finding funny cards. And this year didn't disappoint. Stacey made hers up herself. She was surprised that both Cathy and Grandma and Grandpa Frazier were able to find cards that made a fuss about turning 40. Haha! Jon got chocolate milk from Stacey, a Home Depot gift card from Cathy which will help a lot with all the paint we'll need in the basement.
Once the fireworks started it became clear that the smoke bombs and flowers were favorites. We eventually pulled out the head phones for the girls. They were definitely needed.
Lydia found and picked up a potato bug while the fireworks were going. She loves them! Sophie twirling in the smoke bomb smoke with the cousins was a highlight.
I loved watching Mia carrying around her Bingo dog. She held onto him most of the evening. He even got to sample her red cake! And I loved what Jon wrote on Instagram, so here it is: "I turned 40 today, which as cliché as it sounds, caused me to take stock of my life. I'm not the person I thought I would be 20 years ago. I have a wonderful wife who challenges me to be the best version of myself, and three beautiful daughters that are the light of my life. I wouldn't change the past, because I've never been happier in the present, and I look forward to the future. And yes, Becca is wearing a Utah shirt...yay!" Ha ha. I must love him...;) 40 may seem old. But he's not!
