A birthday to remember

Last year I celebrated my 30th birthday.  On my birthday, I was in Maryland, pregnant with my 3rd and taking care of the other two kids while my husband was in Texas for the priestly ordination of our friend Father Bernhard!  

This was taken at Father's ordination in Tyler, Texas.  Jason is to the left of Father and in front of him is our other friend Eric.  The three of them will be reunited at the Cathedral in Tyler where they will be working!  

*Disclaimer: We couldn't afford to all fly down to Texas.  I forced Jason to buy the ticket and attend the ordination knowing that I wouldn't be able to join him.  And most importantly, Father Bernhard is the reason we are picking up and moving to Tyler, Texas!  Jason was offered a job working at the Cathedral in Tyler where Father Bernhard currently works.

Needless to say, I have had fun jabbing Jason every now and then for bailing on my 30th birthday to party with his friends all weekend while I spent the my birthday in full morning sickness mode trying to chase a 3 and 1-1/2 year old.

The joke was on me though. Jason has been working for weeks to coordinate a surprise birthday party for me with some of my absolute closest friends!

However, last week while cleaning and staging our house, Jason threw out there, "Hey, what about throwing a going away party for us here at our house now that it looks so great?"

And I threw him a big-eyed stare and asked, "You seriously want to let a bunch of people mess up our house now that we have it perfect?????"

And then he started to get nervous about the surprise party...

that he offered to throw at our house...

And he decided that with three small children, we have enough surprises in our life...

And he decided to let me in on the surprise so that I could "approve" the party in our house.  

Little Men: Take note of the wisdom of your father

So with the house already clean, we got to preparing a feast!

Jason prepared his famous Texas Brisket that receives rave reviews every time he makes it!  It is a labor of love that starts the previous night and was proclaimed to be better than the award winning brisket of a local restaurant!

We also had a whole sockeye salmon that I wanted to cook on my birthday to share since it was 5 lbs of goodness!  But we were a little overwhelmed with trying to prepare this huge fish.  So, when the brisket was finished, we decided to just throw it on the grill for a mesquite smoked salmon.

All you do is salt the cavity, puncture the fish all the way through in a few spots to let the smoke ooze into it, and leave it for a couple hours to take in all the smokey flavor.  

It. Was. Amazing! 

And I'm not sure if I should be worried or flattered that everyone spent their hard-earned money on all this booze for the party ;)  

We put a decent dent in it...but we're not young'uns anymore and had to act responsibly

To top off the party booze, we stuck with the same theme for my presents :)

Jason has noticed my obsession with drinking out of a mason jar and found me the most appropriate gift ever

It's the Redneck Wine Glass!!!!  And don't worry - he got me 2 of these bad boys so you can drink out of it the next time you come visit me :)

And the wine was from my friend Stacy - also a mother of three small children!

And the mini bottles of liquor from Karen - they are for the long drive to Texas :)

And something to carry my mini-bottles of liquor: 

How spoiled am I???  Thank you Jennie!  (But I do have to share it with another little lady)

The party was amazing, and I am even more reminded of how much I am going to miss my friends and family here in Maryland.  I was thinking about the group of friends who Jason invited and realized that in this small group, my entire life is covered from birth to current day: Starting with my little brother up through my phase as a mom.

The phases are:

Little brother: Birth through preschool

Kim: Preschool through 7th grade

Michelle: 8th grade through 11th grade

Lindsay: 12th grade

Jennie: 19 years old - Restaurant waitresses

Jennifer: 21 years old - desk job in corporate hell :)

Jason: 24 years old - college

Stacy: Now - Life as a mom of little kids

How cool is that?!  I'm proud of my crew and can't even process leaving them.  

Texas has some big shoes to fill...

And lastly - my birthday miracle story:

When Jason graduated college, my mom gave him a beautiful leather briefcase.  He left it in his car with a lot of paperwork and books and some young good-for-nothings came through our neighborhood vehicles and took what they wanted.  The briefcase didn't have any valuables in it, but cannot be replaced and we were really upset about it.

This morning, on my actual birthday, the Sheriff pulled up with the briefcase in her backseat.

I'll just call this one a birthday present from my mom :)

A big thank you to everyone who was able to come for the party and also thank you for all the gifts.  I love you guys :)  

It was a fantastic night!