The Colony Mom Turns The BIG 40!

It was the day before my big 40.

It was my birthday and was headed to my parents house 

for our weekly Thursday night dinner and hangout

while Josh is at rehearsal.

My sister called to wish me a happy birthday.

Little did I know that she had just rolled into town and was 

literally waiting on me to leave my parents so she could hunker down for the

night as she waiting for what would be one of the biggest surprises ever.

Birthdays tend to stress me out a little bit

so we I like to keep them low key.

So when Friday rolled around Josh had planned a fun 

progressive dinner around town to celebrate.

But after we arrived at the first stop for appetizers he

conveniently told me he forgot his wallet

and that we'd need to head back to the house to grab it before the next stop.

We get to the house and he ran in.

I did not follow him.

I mean, why would I?

So after a minute or so he comes back to the car and said that Jude

REALLY wanted to show me a magnet creation he had made.

Of course I had to run in really quick to go see it.

As soon as I walked around the corner of the kitchen into the living room I was

SHOCKED to see a room FULL of so many of my favorite people,

yelling Happy Birthday!

Josh had recruited Heidi for some help to get a pot-luck surprise party.

My KIDS even kept it a secret from me!

What a special night it was!

I clearly wasn't ready to take pictures of this event,

but a few people did send me some so I could document this fun evening:)

Rainy made THE BEST peppermint chocolate cake!

It stayed hidden in a foil container with a very stern man reminding me not to peek.

And if that weren't enough, 

at 8pm we left the house (with friends doing ALL the cleaning!)

as Josh whisked me away to a hotel room for the evening.

AND THEN...

because I had been out of town leading worship for an event on

Heidi's big 40 bash, she booked a night for us to get away and be besties 

in our 40's doing all the exciting things like sleeping in, eating Mexican

and shopping for a new outfit with our Birthday gift cards.

Hey, 40 ain't so bad.