Oh Happy Day!

We celebrated Husband's birthday a little early. About 5 days early, that is. And boy was it a surprise. He knew something was going on but not really sure as to what was REALLY going on. Before heading to our final destination, we stopped at Sonic for a refreshing drink (on a steamy hot day) and then I blindfolded him and off we went. He really was a good sport about it all. I would have been car sick had I been blindfolded from Maricopa to Peoria! It was fun to play the "where are we now?" game with him. He was pretty good, but in the end he had no clue that we were about to walk into his parents home! When there I took his blind fold off and there were a bunch of our sweetest friends and family yelling, "SURPRISE!" I thought it most sweet when all the kiddos came up and said, "Happy Birthday, Mr. C!" and hugged him around his waist or shook his hand. Cherished moments indeed.

There was much conversing, laughing, and eating. We had a wonderful time. There was even a "Birthday Boy Trivia Game" that was set up similar to the TV show "1 vs. 100." Many were surprised by the answers, but in the end... Husband's friends knew him well!

Husband was also treated to a fun gift from some friends of ours in New Mexico. I conspired with Renee (who happens to be a very talented Graphic Designer) to make a professional looking label for his home brew. Boy, did she come through! People thought that I had picked up some "pre-made" beer and took the label off. There were all sorts of thoughts. But, alas, Husband has his own label and his own beer. I think that the label makes the beer quite appealing... everyone wanted to try some and some people even asked if they could take an empty bottle home.

He was also surprised by the generosity of so many people as we collected some funds for Husband to somehow keep his passion for flying alive and well. He is thinking about actually ending his flying days for an extended season for a variety of reasons and will probably pick up RC Airplanes. I think he's pretty excited about putting one together and flying it in one of the local air parks in the valley!

People filtered through for a couple of hours at this "open house" type party... which usually works best when there are quite a few people invited. Husband was thoroughly wiped out after the fact. My sweet, introverted husband! :) I cannot give him too much grief because his nutty extrovert wife was pretty wiped out, too!

There it is... a wonderful birthday for the most wonderful man. I am so thankful to be married to someone as strong, caring, tender, and rooted in the Faith as him.

On his actual birthday we had a delightful dinner at a brewery in downtown Tempe called Gordon Biersch. It was a fun time. Then we headed over to watch the third installation of Pirates of the Caribbean.