A few days of Celebration! How did I get so lucky?!

We have had a lot of Celebrations this week!  On Saturday we celebrated Eleni's birthday, on Sunday we celebrated Mother's Day, and on Tuesday we celebrated my birthday!  I am so lucky to have an amazing husband and daughter who were so sweet to me and made my days so special.  I also have AMAZING friends and I am so grateful to have them.  I was really worried moving out here that I wouldn't have any friends and that I would feel lonely but I have made some great friends out here!  Thanks to all those who made my birthday special!  I missed our families but they didn't disappoint either, even across the country they made me feel special!



MOTHER'S DAY:
I woke up to Daci kissing my cheek and saying "Happy Mother's Day, Momma!"  That right there would have been enough for me!  It was so fun having her old enough to realize that this was mommy's special day and that she was going to make me feel special.  Rick had gotten up early with her before church and had her help him make me gluten free german pancakes!  Impressed?  I am!  I didn't think he even knew where my gluten free flour was or how to use it.  He also wrote me a very sweet letter and he decorated the envelope very beautifully with a bunch of my scrapbook stuff :)  He swore he would kill me if I posted it, but it was too sweet to not, right?!

His handmade envelope.  He used my circle punches and sponged the edges! He also cut out the letters in my name.  Seriously, he is going to die that I put this up!  hahaha

My scrumptious German Pancakes!

I got to eat on the "You are special today" plate (ignore my no makeup face, it was early :) )

I know we aren't ready for this picture but I just HAD to post it.  Notice how we have the same pursed lips?  My girlfriends in high school always teased me because my mom always did this pursed lip smile and they said I did it all the time too.  Haha!  I guess it has been passed down to yet another generation :)

Me and my beautiful girl on Mother's Day

Here is a video of Daci at breakfast.  How sweet is that?!  So cute that Rick taught her how to say that and that she should make me feel special :)

BIRTHDAY:


Rick took me to get my birthday present on Monday night.  He got me a really nice Schwinn bike.  We decided we want to be a biking family!  We got a bike trailer two weeks ago for Daci and have been pulling her around in it but we wanted to be able to all go for rides together.  It is a great workout and a great way to spend time together!

My birthday morning I opened a present from my mom.  She handmade me a set of cards, a beautiful spring/summer banner, and had The Proclamation framed beautifully for my house.  Thanks mom!  I will take a picture of all of them soon to share!

Then we went to lunch with a bunch of girls from my ward.  Before we left we went to get the mail.  It was the first nice day that we have had all year.  It jumped from being in the 50's to being 91 degrees!  woah!  Daci was so excited to be able to walk her baby to the mailbox :)  She kept saying "Mommy, picture!" and then would pose with her stroller for me.  First time ever!  She hates pictures!

On our way back from the mailbox I turned around to take a picture of Dac and the three sister missionaries were following us!  They came to see me and give me a birthday card.  How sweet is that!?  It made me feel so special!  I had them snap a pic of Daci and I :)

We went to Chick Fil A for lunch.  Its kinda a favorite of our ward's cuz there is a place for the kids to play and we can just sit around and talk while we watch them.

From left to right: mary (the chick fil a employee kinda cut her off :( ), Ashley, Chelsea, Me, Angelique, Carly, and Jami!  Ashley Carter had just left right before we took the pic :(  I had so much fun girls!  Thanks for a fun lunch!

Then, Rick came home from work and said, "Lets go for a bike ride!"  We rode over to Carly's house and she surprised me with a Gluten Free cake!  So sweet!  I was afraid I would have to make my own Birthday Cake :)

Me and my new ride :)  I love it!

Daci loves it too :)

After our bike ride we went back home and got ready to take Daci over to my friend Angelique's house to be babysat while we went on a date.  Rick didn't tell me what we were doing, just that we had a sitter. So we drove Daci over, dropped her off, and then Rick said, "Ok, what do you want to do?" I have to admit, I was a bit annoyed :)  I was like, "Seriously, you haven't planned anything?" He was like, "Well, I have a back up but I don't know if you will like it, so I just want you to tell me what you want to do." Grr!  I was a little bit mad :) I told him that I wanted to do what he had planned.  So we drove to downtown Naperville and he said he wanted to take me to dinner.  I was like, "Cool! Where we going?" and he said, "I want you to pick." Grr again!  He listed a few places and I was like "Well, Lou's sounds good." And he said, "Ok, lets go there." And then I said, "Or it might be fun to try somewhere new?" and he said, "Well, I already ordered Lou's so we have to go there." Hahaha!  He is such a tease!  I don't know why he had to string me along when he had already made plans.  I said, "Rick! What if I had said, 'Ya know, I just really don't want Lou's tonight'?" and he said, "Well, I know you way too well.  I know that if I had said, 'Well, I really want Lou's' you would have said 'Ok, that sounds good, lets do that'" Which is completely true!  I am the worst at making decisions.  I just always do what he wants cuz I am happy with anything and would rather not make the decisions :)  So we walk into the restaurant and to my HUGE surprise Carly, Micah, Leni, Angelique, Ben, Lyla, Daci, and a family from Rick's mission that he baptized were all there to surprise me!  It was so much fun!  I was so impressed the Rick thought of dropping Daci off with Ang so I would have no idea, and then have them meet us at the restaurant.  Lou's was great as always and then we headed back to Carly's house for cake and presents.

Opening my present from my Mother-in-law

Its a beautiful new bedspread!  Thanks Penny!

The boys: Ben, Micah, and Rick

The girls stayed up way past their bedtime and were getting pretty goofy

The girls: Angelique (with Lyla), Me, and Carly

Thanks for an awesome birthday!  I had a blast and was so spoiled!