Paaartaaaay!!!

Happy Birthday to Keith!!! We partied pretty hard today to celebrate Keith's big day. First off, we were surprised to be able to spend the day with him as he had planned to fly out of town today to spend a weekend in Zion to run a 50 miler. But it was called off just yesterday afternoon due to unexpected snow on the trails. So, we started yesterday pretending that it was his birthday, then did the real deal replay today. Of course, I'm bummed that he didn't get to have his birthday bash as he had been planning for months, but I have been secretly (or not, since I'm admitting this in writing) happy to have him home on his birthday. :)

We got to have lunch with him--which caused both Bennett and Leah to declare this the best day of their lives! Those kids, man. We have some darn good ones. We also spent the day in party planning mode--a little shopping, a little wrapping, a little cake baking, a little freaking out. So. Much. Fun.

When Keith came home from work, he took us all out for pizza--which again made the heads of my two big kids nearly explode. Then we came home to a big german chocolate cake (by request) and a pile of presents for Keith.

See? Can't you feel the party in your bones? This was a good time!


Keith was lucky enough to score a sweet set of ninja action figures from Bennett, a stretchy rubber killer whale from Leah, and a sweet Irish hat from his parents living in Ireland.

And now, two awesome birthday related conversations with Bennett:

First:
As I was putting Bennett to bed last night, he could hardly contain his excitement on the eve of Keith's birthday. We talked about the day for a bit then he asked me what present I was giving to dad. I explained that I didn't have a present to wrap up because I was giving dad his trip to Zion. That had been his birthday gift, even though it didn't end up happening as he had planned. He looked at me with such compassion and said, "That's ok mom. You give a gift to dad every single day."

"What gift is that, Bennett?:

He tenderly touched my cheek and said, "your delicious dinners!"

Second:
As we were eating Keith's birthday cake, Bennett exclaimed: "Wow mom, you really put the hammer down on this cake!"

I must admit, I'm feeling pretty awesome now.


Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEITH!!!! You are the bomb!