A few weeks ago, Eric turned 30! And that is pretty hot. It was a birthday he's been anticipating with a lot of trepidation for quite a while. Something about not having accomplished enough in life by that all important milestone. And something else about being old. :) Hogwash, I say! I can think of few people who I am so proud and amazed by all they have come up against and managed to accomplish anyways. Eric is a tremendous dad, a beyond words WONDERFUL husband, a hot, talented little engineer, a BYU Master, a loyal servant of the Lord - whether that service is teaching 10 year olds to be scouts or helping to lead the men in the ward, and the best man I know - which is saying something because I know some stellar ones.
The Lord has been so good to us and in the last few months, wonderful things have been happening for us. Enough so that I think Eric was able to approach his third decade with much more peace and satisfaction than he thought he was going to a year or two ago.
- Eric is doing fantastic at work and got some great feedback at his year review - he's really feeling like he's fitting in, enjoying, and doing well (in spite of the learning curve) in his career. I'm so grateful he feels some fulfillment in that area.
- Through hard work, sacrifice, and a lot of amazing blessings, we've been able to gain some ground in our personal finances and debt eliminating goals. Enough that we feel hope and peace about where we are at.
- We recently made a great move and are enjoying our new life back in a centralized, civilized :) location immensely. Things are just better when we're together.
- Our third child is on the way. Something to celebrate, indeed!
- And overall, we are just feeling some relief and joy in the calm, beautiful place we are at. We made it through some incredibly tough, harrowing times. We beat Elena's cancer! We sold our business! We finished school! We have kept our two children alive in spite of all the medical problems and hiccups! And so on and so forth.
So, to celebrate the momentous occasion of turning 30, I wanted to plan a whole weekend of manly good times. Eric said camping, remote control car racing, zombie-ing (Call of Duty Zombies), good food, and some partying would make for a fun birthday weekend. Christy and Tom graciously offered up their house for us to invade and make home base for the weekend's festivities. And a bunch of family was able to come into town to make it a true "man party" - Danny from Colorado, Dad and Andrew from Utah, and Tom and Eric B. were the locals that rounded out the numbers.
The crew ready to go camping up Mt. Lemmon on Friday
Remote control car racing in the mountains
And just for Eric, the bird lover's, birthday several little birds visited their campsite and Eric saw a bunch of new (to him) species. :)
The boys rolled back in late Saturday afternoon, Eric B. and Jen and company joined us, and we commenced grilling everything in sight for dinner. We may have gone slightly overboard because I think every single dinner item was grilled - tri-tip, corn on the cob, zuchinni, peppers, and so on and so forth. But, really, is there any such thing as too much grilled goodness?
Cute girls and their Izze's
My steam was all run out and so Cold Stone obligingly supplied one scrumptious ice cream cake. :) Eric blew out a candle for each decade and then opened presents (with lots of interested helpers).
The girls were so cute and with just a little help, they picked out some great gifts for Eric: a Macaw puzzle for Daddy to put together with them and a remote control helicopter
And then the ladies vanished (for the most part) and the men commenced their zombie-ing. And it looks like good times were had by all. :)
Sunday, the official festivities were over, but we laid low and enjoyed church and lots of good family time. Some napped and some played games. And some people named Briana totally crushed all the competition at said games.
And in the evening, Jen and Eric hosted everyone for dinner before we said goodbye and headed our separate ways.
6 comments:
What a wonderful wife you are, Briana! I love you and thank you so much for being so good to Eric. For seeing all the goodness in him, and appreciating it. For planning and celebrating his big moments. I couldn't imagine a better wife for my son.
And from all accounts the party was fabulous! Of course, my reports were somewhat limited, but if I interpreted the grunts and one-word answers accurately--a big hit!
Can't wait to see you in a few weeks!
Oh, no! Did I miss his big day? Ummm, kind of think I wished him a Happy Birthday...if not, here it is!! Looks like they had fabulous time! Miss you all! Love 'n Hugs!
This looks like the most epic man party ever! Those boys are just born to be zombie slayers I think. I think this man party thing is a rockin' tradition!
You are an amazing wife, Briana! Eric is lucky to have you!!
twas a grand time. you are such a good wife to plan all this for eric! and that grilled dinner was delish! if only i could eat like that every night. :) also the ice cream cake. never forget.
He HAS accomplished so much!!!! Sounds like he had a great birthday regardless of the number;)
Post a Comment