May continued...

I turned 31 on May 10th.  I was a nervous wreck about turning 30 last year and didn't really do a whole lot to celebrate.  I kept thinking maybe I should have made a bigger deal about leaving my 20s, so I decided to make sure I had a bit more fun this year. 

On my actual birthday I was spoiled with many beautiful flower bouquets from friends, and got to talk to my Granny Clark and my family for a while.  Later in the day I took the kids out for a picnic lunch in the park and then a sitter came to watch the wee ones while I went to meet Ryan at his work.  We had a really lovely dinner at Benihanas (what a show that place puts on!), and then he took me clothes shopping.  What a treat it is to shop for yourself sometimes! ha.  

The following day I went out to dinner at 'The Original' in Portland with some girl friends.  It was totally delish and we had such a fun night topped off with dancing at Lola's room for 90s night.  Hilarious times were had by all and I can't wait to go back again.

Well, the only bad part about that night was that I stayed out way too late and then had to give a wee talk at 9am church the next morning.  It was actually a really nice experience though.  I got to talk about one of my favourite people; my mum.  The rest of the day I was waited on hand and foot by these wee handsome devils...it was such a lovely Mother's Day.  

 Here's the card Ryan got me for my birthday...I love his, "Oh, wait..." comment! Funny. I also received an amazing new camera.  Starting with the flower pic all the remaining photos were taken with it...I'm in love with it and so enjoy learning to use it. 

These two wee girls have been getting into a lot mischief lately.  But look how utterly lovely they are!  I can't stay upset for too long, but really they are quite the duo...it's mess after mess, and chaos wherever they go.

 This one is still the ringleader and the biggest bossy boots you ever did meet! 

And the follower...although, she does try to stay out of trouble, it's just that Olive bullies her into being naughty:) 

 On the 18th, Jack's school, Joan Austin, had it's annual fundraiser community festival.  It was so cute seeing Jack get mega excited about showing me around the school, introducing me to his friends and the staff.  He is such a good boy and I'm so proud of how well he's getting on.

 Last Friday we met Ryan at Safari Sams in the evening and used our Groupon to let the boys play on the jungle gym, bouncers, and play mini-golf with Ryan.  The wee girls and I followed them around and had our own fun. 

  Unfortunately, we learned near the end of the evening that our friend from our ward had passed away.  It is so utterly devastating as he has left behind his wife and three young children.  We are grateful that he is no longer suffering, but he will be missed by so many terribly.

Jack has been working diligently around the house earning money from chores to buy different Lego sets.  He loves the Monster Fighters and here he is with one of his favourite guys, his Dad, building the Werewolf set.

 Peter has been attending a music class every Tuesday morning for the last 6 weeks with a small group of children in our ward.  He has some major intense passion for the Chimes, and the Ocean Drum to name just a couple that he talks for endless hours about! Ha.  I'm excited to see him develop his love of music even more, as I have always known how much he likes to sing.  

I also just recently signed Peter up to attend a Preschool two days a week this coming Fall.  He'll miss Jack being gone all day this next school year, and although he is great friends with the girls, I know he will thrive on having some other wee pals and a nice structured learning environment a couple days a week.  

 Callie came up to watch our wee ones yesterday so that Ryan and I could both attend our friend's funeral.  Afterwards, Ryan decided to just work from home the remainder of the day.  It was really nice to be able to go out and enjoy the returning sunshine with him and the kids for a bit after he was done.  We don't have much of a garden, but I do really love the closeness of our two wee parks and how clean they are kept up along with the gorgeous green surrounding grassy areas for the children to play on.  It was a sad, but beautiful day to appreciate and feel so grateful for our special loved ones.