The Big 30!

Last Wednesday I turned 30. I've never been a big birthday person so I wasn't dreading what everyone seems to consider the dreaded age. I had no idea, but for the last several months Britt had been planning activities to do throughout the whole week for me. Luckily I have 2 great mom's and three great kids that made sure her plans went through.

I got to work early Wednesday morning to find my office space completely decorated...at first I thought it was some of my co-workers then I saw the big sign the girls had made me. It was definately a nice thing to see as I got into work as I was especially missing Britt that morning.

When I woke up that morning I was praying for a little extra strength to get through day. I've had Britt with me on my birthday the last 11 years and I wasn't anxious to have this one without her. My prayers were answered though and I enjoyed a peace and calmness I haven't had since Britt passed away. It stayed with me all day and through the night. That evening I had the pleasure of attending my first parent teacher conferences...Britt always did this before. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

The rest of the week, every night when I would get home there would be a new surprise waiting for me that was '30' of something...licorice, blank cd's, bags of pretzles, etc....The kids really had fun doing this all week and it made me feel really good.

Saturday morning Kaleb and Kat were over in the neighborhood to run a 5k. Afterwards Kaleb asked if I wanted to go hit softballs that afternoon. I'm always up for that so I said yes. As I was waiting for him to come pick me up I went to check the mail and there was a manila envelope in the mailbox from the Utah Department of Health. I knew right away what it was...I had an STD and they were writing to inform me. No, not really...it was Britt's death certificate. Talk about a slap in the face when I saw that...thanks to the state of Utah for making it official. LuckilyKaleb got there a short time after that and we were off to the fields...little did I know I was being setup. We get to the fields and I'm looking out and I said to Kaleb, "what the heck is your dad doing out there," he turned and said "happy surprise birthday party." Then I looked and noticed the whole family was out there. Talk about a great surprise. They had a wiffle ball party planned and it was great. I felt a huge emptiness as I walked out there from the car though...I just kept thinking Britt should really be out here with us. I think she may have been around...but it was such a perfect day that I really missed having her out there to laugh with us all. Here are some of the pictures from the party....

Before Brynn bats she adjusts her cup.

You just know this one is going yard....

Little did I know these last several months up through her last days Britt had been working on a picture book for me that the kids gave me. It was pretty emotional for me to open the book up and see all she had been doing.

And what would a birthday party be without a bunch of white kids hitting a baseball shaped pinata...


Monday night the softball team I play on with Kaleb and Wes continued our tournament play. We were down by 7 runs going into the bottom of the 7th inning. We came within one run when I came to the plate with runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs....seriously...I have never been up to bat with the chance to win the game. As I walked up to the plate I was praying for a hit...first pitch I got I put right into centerfield scoring the two runners to win the game. It was such a fantastic high for me. I had a hard time not looking over at the bleachers full of our fans afterwards...I didn't want to look over and not see Britt cheering over there. She would have been so proud though. The blurry picture below was my big moment....Thanks to all my family for helping me have a great birthday week. It was great to have everyone come out Saturday for some wiffle ball fun. Thanks to both of my moms for all their hard work in helping my kids carry out Britt's plans. And thanks to my love Britt, who even through her sickness wanted to plan a fun 30th birthday for me. Sorry you couldn't be here for it to see all your plans through, but I have a feeling you probably weren't far off.