40 & Fabulous

Hello all:

The last 2 weeks in April for my 40th birthday were SO FUN!!! I wanted to do something special for my 40th year on the earth so I told my family I wanted a party with friends and family.

I also took a week of vacation time so I could relax and enjoy it properly. I was even more surprised because as luck would have it David's vacation time landed on my birthday week so he and his lovely family (Michelle,Ruby, Noah, Holly & Lily) made the trek from Utah to spend a week with us.

Since they arrived the day after Easter, the 1st thing we did was have a belated Easter Egg Hunt.



On the search for the elusive Egg



Ruby scores some eggs



Noah scores some also



It would seem Auntie Marilee
put the Egg too high..Sorry Holly



Holly showing us her prized egg



I walked into my room to find that
Holly dumped out all the eggs and grass
and decorated herself with stickers while eating
the loot. Never leave this girl alone.. :-)

Grandma then broke out the new toy which we call the worm.



David filming his kids in the worm



Ruby strikes a pose



And Miss Holly does the same

Then they broke out the bubbles that the Easter Bunny brought. Oh how fun it is to blow bubbles.





Then they all piled on the swing with Grandma



We have had a tradition with the men that we call the RED MEN. Michelle captured a great photo of the boys.



Grandpa, Noah & David..How handsome!

Because David still has California Beaches in his soul, we went to the beach in Santa Monica. Unfortunately we chose a cold and windy day..But did this stop us--NO WAY!



Noah, Holly & I get blown down to the beach.



It's cold but Michelle & I smile anyway.



Ruby poses as she gets sand blown in her
face.



Lily is just happy to be part of
the group.



They are so cute.



Holly showing off her new shades.



Blowing away..but who cares. :-)




This beach scene should have been our first clue,
not a soul in sight..LOL!



My cool dudes agree it was a good day.

On a side note, the temperatures increased by
20 degrees and David took Ruby & Noah to the
beach a few days later.

The next day we all went to Memorial Park in La Canada and had a fun day. The kids LOVE the park.



Lily goes for a swing



Noah searches for land.



Ruby, Michelle & Lily chill out and pose for the camera



Auntie Marilee poses with all her Potter babies.

Sara, Andrew & Mary arrived late on Thursday, so on Friday they came to hang out and get ready for the party of the century the following day. I was surprised to receive beautiful flowers from Barbara & Morgan.



Me and the pretty flowers.

Friday evening David, Michelle & the kids went to go visit friends and Mindy, Mikaela, Amanda & Ashley arrived. We all decided to go out and have pedicures. What a fun day.



Ashley & Sara have their toes worked on
while Andrew & Mary watch



Mindy & Amanda relax on the other side



Cousins Ashley, Amanda, Mary & Mikaela.

Friday evening I had present opening with just my family because of the special gifts they wanted to share with me.



I got a copy of a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode that I have always wanted.



Very cute purple pajamas



A digital key chain, so I can bore people with pictures of my nieces and nephew.

My wonderful siblings also got me an Auntie necklace with all my babies birth stones and Andrew, Sara & Mary made me a picture DVD of my life set to music. I loved it.

Saturday was my big day and I woke up to my bathroom mirrors decorated and my car windows decorated. Unfortunately I never made it outside to take a picture of it, but trust me it was very cute.

I was then taken to breakfast by my siblings. We went to Everest, which is our favorite place for pancakes.



Being silly with David..My 40th birthday necklace said--"Behold the Ageless Wonder" Very Funny.



Sara, Andrew & Mary say good morning.



Cousins Lily & Mary wish they could have some of our yummy food.




Mary puts on her party hat and says, "Let's get this party started"

Sara made me a yummy chocolate cake but I must give credit to Mindy & Michelle because they frosted it.



Behold 40 candles



Sara lights her up..better have those fire extinguishers near by.



Blowing...Blowing..Blowing..



And out they go. Let's cut the cake.




I got so many lovely presents



My party ended with a picture of all my babies. Man is it hard to get a good shot of everyone, oh well..we will keep on trying.




Ruby, Lily, Me, Mary, Noah & Holly

As quick as they came, David & Michelle had to go home... :-( I guess all good things can't last forever. Andrew, Sara & Mary got to stay with us a little longer but I also eventually had to go back to work.

When I returned to work, I got to celebrate my birthday with my co-workers..That's right I milked this birthday for all it was worth because let's face it, you only turn 40 once.

My co workers told me I had to be blindfolded to go to our destination. Since we did not have a blind fold I had to use a towel we had in the office, so I'm sure everyone that saw the car assumed I had a migraine. Cindy drove in circles to throw me off the track and Theresa read to me out of US magazine so I wouldn't pay attention. We ended up at my favorite Italian restaurant for lunch Divina Cucina where we had a fun girly lunch and then enjoyed my favorite chocolate cake from Cakery Bakery.



Getting ready to drive in circles



Cindy & Barbara posing with the blindfolded one.



I love chocolate cake



Blowing out the last set of candles for my 40th year.

Again I send thank you's to all my family that came and celebrated and made this the best year of my life.