California Living: A Birthday Trip

I remember when Matt turned 40 and I flew to South Carolina to surprise him for his birthday. I still remember how he put his arm around me to give me a hug and he didn't see who he was hugging because he was smiling and talking to all the surprise party guests. Finally someone said to him. "Look who you are hugging." And when he looked, I thought he would pass out, he was so surprised. Really, that was so fun. Well last week Becca wanted to surprise Ryan so she flew me to Utah as a surprise for Ryan's 30th birthday. I had the Gonzo's pick me up and I spent Friday night with them. We had a great time. It's so good to have old friends and I mean that in the very best way. They have been my friends forever and they are the best so that's what makes them old friends, not their age. They took me to The Blue Iquana for dinner and then we went home. Seriously, we are old, because we had to go to bed because we were so tired. In the morning, Becca told Ryan that he had to pick up his birthday present and that the address was programmed into his GPS so he got in the car and off they went. When they ended up at the Gonzos, he was completely confused as to what they would have that he would want for his birthday. When I opened the door I wish you could have seen his face. go here if you want to see it. Becca has a great camera that has no delay, so she caught his reaction instantly. I want that Camera and I want Ryan's Ipad too.

I spent four days with them. Becca is so good at "event planning". I loved it all, and had fun with the kids. Lydia clung to me like I was her best friend and we had a great time. When we left the Gonzo's, we headed over to Thanksgiving point to the Tulip Festival. I love flowers and It was a perfect day. I was wondering what Ryan thought about spending his birthday looking at flowers. He just loves to be with his family so I'm sure he was having a great time. The flowers were so amazing and there were many many many of them and many colors. This seemed more like my birthday present than Ryans.

I love this birdhouse, evidently the birds don't. There were a lot of birdhouses here, all of them vacant.

Lydia and Ryan rolled down this forever hill and then they had to hike back up. Lydia's face glowed with excitement and happiness and she wanted to do it again, but Ryan's face was red and sweaty and he quickly distracted her by chasing her around.

Lydia fell madly in love with these two cows. She did not want to leave them and chased them around until we had to drag her kicking and screaming away. Later she asked if we could go back and see the cows again.

Emma napped most of the time

This is supposedly the largest man made waterfalls in the U. S.
They were really impressive.

This is not a real moose, and it wasn't even as big as a real moose, but it was fun to think it was real standing in the bushes there.

Emma woke up just in time to go home. Silly girl.

As I have already said, Becca is a great event planner. Part of Ryan's 30th momentous birthday celebration was planned several monthes earlier. She asked all of his family and her family to write a note to Ryan telling him what it was about him that they loved. Most all complied. Sunday morning we sat down to a fabulous breakfast and Ryan opened his "love letters". Ryan had a hard time holding it together as he read them (over 30) one at a time. We all laughed and cried. It was such a great idea and I loved it. This picture makes it look like it was anything but a happy time, but my camera has a bad delay and I always seem to catch everyone at a bad time. (I really love Becca's camera).

Do these two look related? They really could be twins except one is 4 years old and the other is 8 monthes old. They are already best friends. Emma's face just lights up when she sees Lydia and Lydia loves to play with Emma and make her laugh. It's the best therapy to watch them together.

No, I did not knit this dress for Lydia or Emma. I am in awe of the person who did though. I met her in Ryan and Becca's ward and she is Blind. She was born that way, so she can't even say she learned when she had sight. She not only knits, but she teaches other blind people to knit, cook, read brail, etc. So all of you out there, stop complaining.
I really had a wonderful visit. These pictures do not show all that we did. We ate fabulous meals that Becca prepared, we ate fabulous hamburgers and milkshakes and we had "cake bites" that were to die for. We ate a lot of vegetables too. We played a game one night. I love games. I was delightfully entertained by Lydia. She danced for me, sang for me, and played the piano for me. She read to me and she brushed my hair. I love her for that. Emma just smiled for me non stop. She is the happiest, sweetest baby. When I held her she snuggled against me and she seems to love it as much as I did.

I flew home on Wednesday and went right to work. Thursday I went to Anthony's choir concert in San Juan Bautista at the mission there. It's a beautiful old chapel with great acoustics. The music was so awesome ( I might be too old to use that word, but it really fits). I love that Anthony is in the choir. Anthony actually has many talents, but he flies below the radar, so it's hard to get him to share them. I love him. He makes me smile.

Yesterday, my friend Jackie treated Luci and I to the Theatre. Jackie works at Oakwood School, which is a private school in Morgan Hill. The drama class was performing "Beauty and the Beast", and it was really great.