33...and feeling so loved!

Last Tuesday was my 33rd birthday and I sincerely felt so much LOVE because my sweetheart arranged some pretty amazing things throughout that day. It all began with waffles! Heart-shaped, covered in cinnamon syrup, and a tall glass of milk. Ethan had crawled into bed with me right before Marty brought it up and as soon as he saw Daddy he was awake for the day. It was sweet, to sit with my little buddy and eat waffles together! Perfect start to my day!

Then I noticed a couple of notes arranged by my plate and began to read them. In true fashion, Marty wanted to do something unique and memorable for my birthday and this year was no exception. His first note was super sweet and loving and ended with this....."You are a blessing in my life,...let me count the ways. (33 ways to be exact) Throughout the day I found notes around the house or recieved phone calls from people that I truly love relaying to me Marty's little messages! It was so awesome! I felt so much love and I was so grateful he included family and dear friends as part of my day! Everytime the phone rang, I was so excited to see who was on the other end! Here is what each message said and where I found it, or who in particular gave it to me. Each person's message related to them somehow which was so clever on Marty's part.

Marty counting the ways.....

1~You are my everything (under my plate of waffles) 2~You are the flowers of my life (next to the carnations he bought me a week ago) 3~You are my neverending acts of service and love (by the kitchen sink) 4~You are the syrup to my waffles (next to my plate of waffles) 5~You are the paper towels, to my sometimes mess (on the paper towel roll) 6~You are the light switch to my dark room (on the light switch) 7~You are the track to my roller coaster, constant when I am up & down (bathroom scale) 8~You are the refreshing breeze to my sometimes stagnant uncomfortable life. (ceiling fan) 9~You are Jesse to my happily ever after (toy) story..Yee HAW (on Ethan's Toy Story book) 10~You are my iron rod back to the tree of life (on our picture book scriptures) 11~You are better than the cool side of my pillow (bedroom pillow) 12~You are the teacher of my (life) lessons (in the preschool room) 13~You are the fold to my laundry (laundry room) 14~The captain (driver) that gives my life direction (car steering wheel) 15~The keys to my happiness (key hook) 16~ The love of my life (My sister Nicole called) 17~You are the music to my song (Marty's mom called) 18~You are the victory of my civil war (Marty's best friend Brandon, total history buff!) 19~You are the beat of my heart (Cindy, my YW President I work with) 20~You are the strength in my muscle (My brother in law Matt who is a personal trainer) 21~You are the thoughts of my mind (Heather Sanders, a dear friend, works with me in YW) 22~You are the glory in my forever (Brother Stuart from Marty's work: Romans 8: 16-17) 23~ You are my stick of Judah...being one in Christ (Ezekial 37:19~Brother Hollist) 24~You are the loyalty of our house of God (Joshua 24: 15, 24 ~Brother Palmer) 25~You are my wonder of the Lord (Joshua 2:5~Brother Craven) 26~You are the Emma to my Joseph (D&C 25:2-3, 9-10~ Brother Slaughter) 27~You are the worth of my soul (D&C 18:10~Brother Brown) 28~You are my perfect love (1 John 4:18 My DAD Skip) 29~You are the frosting on my cake (Machelle, my sister, who is an amazing cake decorator) 30~You are the olive to my garden (Heather, my best friend, preparing for tonight's dinner) 31~ You are my Mommy! (Nyah) 32~You are my Mommy! (Ethan) 33~ You are the eternal to my companionship (Marty) His note included the words to Grow Old With Me by John Lennon which he put into the CD player and sang to me. (Awwww!) The last three were opened in our car on the way to Olive Garden. I can't even remember the last time I had gone to Olive Garden for dinner so that was fun!

Here are some more highlights of the day... I went out to lunch with my Mother-in-law and sister-in-law Debi! We went to Cafe Rio which is my favorite. Debi brought me BALLOONS and the kids loved that! While at lunch, Marty ran home and placed beautiful flowers on the kitchen table! So beautiful!

Later in the day,. Marty called along with his seminary class and sang me Happy Birthday!

That night, before we put the kids to bed, Nyah mentioned that we forgot birthday hats! So she ran to her drawers and pulled out underwears! She said those would be our birthday hats! I couldn't stop laughing!

What an awesome day!