Sunday, May 24, 2009

the big 3-0

Yesterday was John's birthday...but not just any ordinary birthday - it was his 30th. Because he was turning 30, I wanted to make it extra special and (hopefully) memorable for him. I love that it fell on a Saturday, because we were able to spend the entire day together. To start out, I decorated the kitchen the night before with crepe paper streamers and balloons - 30 balloons. Ruby helped me by handing me the balloons - one by one - and telling me where I should put each color. In fact, if you look closely, you'll see a lone pink balloon in the mix. Well that pink balloon was Ruby's special gift to her dad. She picked it out, wanted me to blow it up, and couldn't stop talking about how excited daddy was going to be when he saw his pink balloon...



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She also used this time to practice singing the Happy Birthday song - which she'd be preforming the next day for her daddy.



Before John woke up, I set out his gifts - all 30 of them - on the table, under the panorama of crepe paper and balloons.

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Now before you think I went too overboard, I have to explain that not all of them were huge, expensive gifts. Some of the items were small - things like his favorite candy bar, favorite snack, and favorite drink. He got several gift cards to places he likes to eat...a couple of shirts...some cologne. Really nothing huge, just some of his favorite things, or things that he needed (like grey dress socks), or things that at some point he had mentioned that he'd like to have (clippers to cut the dog's hair). Needless to say, I think he was pretty shocked when he saw the display of gifts - wrapped, and arranged... and spanning the entire surface of the kitchen table.

spotting all of his presents...
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opening the gifts...
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Later that day, we had a swim party and bbq over at my sister-in-law, Lori's house.

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She and Joe were gracious enough to open up their home, pool, and yard to all of John's friends and family. There were close to 50 people in attendance...and I know that it meant a lot to him (and to me), that so many people came out - not only to celebrate with us, but also - in honor and support of him.

What's a pool party without somebody getting thrown into the pool?...or as in Joseph's case, forced to jump into the pool after getting an entire bucket of ice water dumped on his head...
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The Birthday Boy...
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Unfortunately, the fun pretty much ended there. We spent the rest of the day at the Phoenix Children's Urgent Care with Ruby. She had a bad case of the croup - high fever, barking cough, struggle for each breath...the whole deal. Normally a dose of Xopenex with the nebulizer does the trick, but after 5 or six treatments - one every 8 hours, and still no improvement...we decided it would be best to just take her in. Fortunately, the chest x-rays showed that her lungs were clear, and they finally sent us home after giving her a steroid shot to open her airway. We didn't feel comfortable leaving her with a babysitter, so in lieu of dinner and a movie, we put the kids down, John cut the dog's hair with his new birthday clippers, and I fell asleep on our bed somewhere between 8:30 and 9:00. You would have thought we were in our eighties. Good thing it's a nice long weekend, and that John has Monday off work...we're planning on picking up where we left off for sure.

13 comments:

Rachel said...

What a fun birthday (or the beginning of it anyways)! LOVE the invitation--so cute! Hope Ruby is doing better!

Kelly said...

How fun! We wanted to come but alas, With Rog studyin 10 hours a day.. we dont do much anymore. Not until June 18 at least. I am glad everything went well for you guys and Happy Late Bday John! I hope Ruby is feeling better. I am sorry to hear that that is how the night ended.

Amy Eagleston said...

Happy b-day John! Love you!

The 30 year old man said...

Thank you for such a fun filled day! You are amazing! I love you tons!

Laurel said...

Well, aside from the birthday trip to the ER, that sounds like such a blast! You're so cute to make his day so special (and you're inspiring me to do the same for Jason next year -- hey, I have almost a whole year to plan now!). Have a happy day tomorrow!

Brooke said...

Happy Birthday John! Sorry I couldn't be there but I am glad your day was specialicious!

sarahtuckett said...

Sounds so fun.... I kept meaning to ask you if you did the 30 presents! Wasn't that fun.... At least you only had to do 30.....

~~Heidi~~ said...

happy birthday John~ Wow 30 you are still young! Good job Nicole~ I need to call you for fun ideas! I am the worst at birthdays for older people like nic! I hope Ruby feels better! Its not fun when your kids are super sick!

Melanie said...

Looks like fun! Happy Birthday John!

(And now, Nicole too).

diana said...

happy birthday john! our gift to you was giving you a break from our faces.

Lacking Productivity said...

You plan the most fabulous surprises.

Happy birthday John.

Celeste said...

Happy birthday again John! Thanks for inviting us to your party. We had a blast.

Poor little Ruby. I hope she's feeling better now. We love you guys.

nevedobson said...

o nicole you are SOO good at celebrating. your display of balloons, crepe paper, and presents looks amazing!!

sounds like he had a great day thanks to you. wish we could have been there!