Look Who's FORTY!

Brian officially turned 40 last Thursday. It's a rough birthday - maybe because we remember our parents at 40? Maybe because our bodies have begun to seriously betray us? Something. I'm just glad he's caught up with me because the jokes were getting old. I really wanted to be able to surprise him with something BIG. I love that kind of stuff! But Brian wants what he wants and I want him to have what he wants, so there are no surprises. He got a new bike! And on his birthday he beat several of his personal best records as he rode that bike to work. The kids and I went to see him and give him a couple of gifts, one of which was revealed to him by Colin the night before. (Foiled again.)

I'd taken the kids to the mall with me a few days before (moment of silence to appreciate that sentence fully...) and told the kids we were getting cologne for Daddy. Bridget kept calling it "chlorine" and then Colin told Brian we got him cologne. Ha!

We also found him a wallet. 

It was a busy day. Before we could go see Daddy at work, we had to run errands - one of which was picking up his Father's Day present:

My new favorite. We had it in the van when the guy showed me where to plug it in to the natural gas line. Um, we're using propane, man. So that took ten times longer than it should have. ANYWAY.

This photo reminds me - when we got out of the van at the mall, Bridget was wearing shorts and tall boots. I hadn't combed the boys hair, because they needed haircuts so badly that it was totally pointless. Not my best showing.

Right at dinner time, Grandma Peggy came! (The boys also got a haircut and lived to tell about it. They hadn't had lunch and they both needed a nap, so it was the worst possible time to get a haircut.  So so so hard. And very sad.) Brian and I left Friday morning and Grandma stayed overnight with the kids.

We spent the morning in Salt Lake - taking our time everywhere, eating when we felt like it, sitting down when we felt like it. We even read some amazing documents in the Family History Library. Finally it was time to check in to The Grand America. Here's what we found in our room:

And here's what we found outside on the balcony:

We decided never to leave, put on our swimsuits and took our books to the pool where we sat in a comfy lounge chair and a boy brought us sodas. Yes! This is what we needed. Since we were never leaving, we ordered room service for dinner. I was kind of expecting what we got for room service at the last hotel we stayed in (just-okay pizza and hot wings plopped on the coffee table), but we got this instead:

They brought in a table. Why didn't I think of that?! So nice. And the food was excellent. We slept better than babies (why isn't that the saying?) with only one interruption - a phone call from a crying Bridget. She was fine. :) We were awakened by the sound of bass from speakers. They were setting up for a wedding in the courtyard.

Can you see the colors on each of the chairs? No?

They're umbrellas. Or parasols. Either way, it reminds me of my own wedding. Not. We found out from the newspaper outside our door that this wedding was the grand finale of a three-day, super traditional Indian wedding. Of course it was! I've never seen so many colors and sparkles ever. In my life. It reminded me of that movie where all the older British people go to a hotel in India and Judi Dench says the city they're in is an "assault on the senses" - all the colors and smells and heat and noise. It really was something to see all the people coming to the wedding in the lobby. I took a picture of this cute little girl because she was decked out. 

Brian was so embarrassed by me at this moment. Ha!

We don't know how to take selfies. I'm okay with it. Now we're both 40 and it's time to get back to work! We'll always have the memories of sitting by the pool reading a book. Ahhh. (I'd like to switch birthdays with Brian. Don't you think? He can have all that winter/too close to Christmas action and I'll take the summer stuff.)