{happy 29th...birthday matthew}

well...i thought i would be a good wife and get my act together to wish my darling husband a happy birthday 17 days late.  a couple of days before matthew's birthday my mom called wanting to know how old he was going to be, and to be honest i had to count...so while i was counting matthew got on the phone with my mom and told her he was turning 29...{which is what hes been turning for the past..."pause for counting"...5yrs)...to which my mom replied, "ha, ya right...the older you are the more money you get."  so matthew decided to celebrate his 57th birthday this year...which i thought, if you want to celebrate your birthdays out of order then go for it...who the heck cares.

we spent matthew's birthday driving to nebraska and the way i attempted to celebrate his birthday was buying hostess cupcakes around 9pm at some random gas station.  matthew wanted to know where the candles were, and i said that was the best i could do with the resources i had.

seriously tho...matthew is such a wonderful husband and father.  i am so grateful to his parents for raising him the way they did.  i would be lost without matthew in my life, he makes me smile on a daily basis...usually multiple times a day.  matthew is so great with the boys, he is so patient with them, and is completely willing to put aside whatever he is doing to give them the attention they are seeking.  i.am.a.lucky.girl...very much so.

{grand o'le flag}

Due to the good o'le Air Force Matthew had a 5 day weekend so we took advantage of free vacation time and headed up to Nebraska for a visit with family.  We had a lot of fun hanging out with Jason, Lacey and kids and grandma and grandpa at the Henry Doorly Zoo on Friday.  Then for the fourth we had a wonderful dinner with Jason, Lacey, kids, Eric, Joy, Olivia, and Grandma and Grandpa...and in keeping with the long lasting neighborhood tradition we lit off fireworks.  I have to say not much has changed in the last 15yrs since my family first moved into that exact neighborhood.  I have never seen anything quite like the way this particular neighborhood celebrates Independence Day.  It quite literally is thick with smoke and firework ash almost the whole night, and it looks like a war zone the next morning.  There was so much residue in the air over night that we had orange ash caked on the hood and roof of our car the next morning.  All in all, it was a great, relaxing weekend and we were so glad to be able to spend it with family.