We celebrated Van’s birthday today.  He turned the big 3-0!  And yes, I am a whole 3 months older than him   We went to The Pit for lunch and then had cake and ice cream at the house.  If you haven’t been to The Pit downtown, I highly recommend it.  They have yummy barbecue and fried chicken!  We celebrated with friends and family (and of course dummy me forgot to take a picture of everyone even though I did remember to bring my camera!).  I’m bummed that I forgot to take a picture and 6 hours later, I’m still kicking myself for not doing that.  Guess I’ll have to get over it.  It was just so neat because we had Van’s parents, his sister and her husband, and 6 of our friends (3 couples) there.  We’ve never had all of those people together at the same time so it made for a special celebration.  And what’s even more cool is that each couple came into our lives at different times.  It was neat to have 3 different groups of friends there.  And I know it made Van happy.  He’s just that kind of guy though.  He keeps friends for a long time because he is such a good friend to others.  I wish I could be more like him in that aspect.  He doesn’t keep grudges, doesn’t keep count of who did what, and isn’t an “eye for an eye” type like I am.  Plus he genuinely likes to help people out.  He’s the guy that will be there for you no matter what.  So I really wish I had remembered to take a picture of all of his friends and family that gathered in one place, just for him.  But I forgot.  Story of my life, right?

I made a yummy cake and surprised him with a movie that I made.  I put together pictures that I’ve had since I’ve known him (all 14 years worth) and created a movie.  It was really good, if I do say so myself!  Starts out in high school, and goes through all our friends, his hobbies (4 wheeling, fishing, flying), graduations, vacations, weddings, honeymoon, and of course Miss Ashley.  Kind of like a collage from past to present.  And it ends with me and Ashley singing Happy Birthday to him.  I have to admit it made me a bit teary eyed seeing all of our history and memories.  And Van REALLY liked it!

So here’s to Van – my best friend, husband, and daddy to our sweet little girl!!  You’re the best Dude!  I hope you enjoyed your birthday