{ weekend misc }

I suppose I'm getting a little too old to consider this weekend an entire "birthday weekend",
but Brian, Hannah, and my wonderful family and friends did such a good job of making it feel that way.
On Thursday, Brian sent me these gorgeous flowers.
I love them! He always picks such beautiful and unique arrangements.

On Friday, we spent the evening with Hannah's BFF from school and her parents.

They are a sweet family, and we had a great time!

We took the girls to Wildlife Prairie Park for their "Not So Scary" Halloween.

Hannah wore last year's costume because I was worried she would get chilly, but the evening was gorgeous. We even had a full moon!

Saturday morning was kind of a comedy of errors.
We tried to go to the regional Cross Country meet in Eureka, tried to go to see Greenville College volleyball in Peoria, and then tried again to see the Cross Country meet. Thunderstorms and time changes prevented us from doing either of those things. But we did get to spend about 4 hours in the car as a family. And we did get to stop at a sweet little coffee shop in Washington, IL for a bit. It was a frustrating morning, but also kind of nice that we didn't have anywhere we HAD to be. And I really enjoyed getting lots of "Happy Birthday" calls, e-mails, and Facebook messages throughout the morning. I really am blessed with very thoughtful friends.

On Saturday afternoon, we celebrated with our great friends, the Myers, as their daughter turned two!

Here is a picture of the three amigos at the end of the party.

Love these chicks.

On Sunday afternoon, I hauled everyone (including my sister who is visiting for the weekend) down to Normal for some pictures of Hannah in her Halloween costume.

I had seen this great idea online and had to try it out, so they graciously humored me. (I was still playing up the "hey, it's my birthday weekend!" thing)

Here is a picture of Hannah and her Aunt Carolyn.

I supposed it's a little spoiler of her Halloween get up, but I thought it was a sweet one of the two of them.

(More pictures to come of the costume photo shoot...)

Altogether, this weekend was a really fun start to my 31st year!!

I am blessed in lots of ways, many of which I frequently take for granted.

I'm treating this birthday like a "new year" of sorts and have made several resolutions.

Here's to a great year ahead, full of challenges and blessings. Can't wait to see what's in store!