The BIG 3-0!!!

Darren turned the BIG 3-0 this year and since it is a pretty big milestone birthday, I wanted to go all out and celebrate how OLD he is! A trip was kind of out of the question since we are so close to having the baby, so I thought about having a big party, but Darren hinted several times that he did NOT want a party, so I decided to just do what I could to surprise him and plan a fun weekend. I ended up putting several different little ideas together and I think it was successful! We had a great weekend and he had lots of fun surprises!

I told Darren to take Friday off and we went up on Thursday night and visited our good friend's, the White's, at a cabin we were staying at near Sundance in Provo Canyon. The surprise was supposed to be going up on Thursday night, but if you read the previous post, we snuck up there earlier in the week, so going on Thursday wasn't a surprise but still fun. We were also able to go and play with them all day on Friday!

Here are Darren and Sandy! We had a great time with them Sunday night and Monday and then Thursday night and all day Friday. Darren has really missed Sandy and we love their family so it was a great surprise! They were like family to us while we were in Vegas so we always love to see them. We spent many nights at their home watching games, scrapbooking and eating lots of treats. They always made us feel so welcome!

We went to Bridal Veil Falls with the White's and a few other fun things down in Provo, but I already posted them, so onto the rest of the weekend...

I arranged for my mom to take the kids on Friday night, so we took them there after we said good-bye to the White's. They always love staying at Grandma's and have lots of entertainment with their aunts and uncles and Grandma and Grandpa there. I didn't tell Darren, but I got us a hotel and we were able to go out for a yummy dinner with no kids at Tepanyaki! SO YUMMY!!!

Darren even got a special birthday dessert! After dinner, we headed to a movie. Darren chose GI Joe, which I wouldn't normally see, except it was his birthday, so I suffered through it. I was actually expecting much worse (though I don't recommend it), but Darren was pretty disappointed. I guess it is all about your expectations.

Saturday was Darren's actual birthday! We got to sleep in (such a great present!) and then went to Mimi's for some really good stuffed french toast!

We went to my mom's for a little bit next since I figured the kids would want to see Dad on his birthday! My mom gave Darren these new lounge chairs that he always likes to use at her house. He was pretty excited about them. We ran a quick errand and test drove a few cars. Always a fun experience! Then we took the kids to meet Darren's parents for lunch at Chili's. We had a late breakfast and early dinner plans, so we didn't really eat, but it was fun to go out.
Then we took the kids back to my mom's and were off for our next BIG surprise!

I got tickets to the Real Game! Darren was VERY excited! He had hinted for these a few times, but I kept telling hinting about other plans, so I think he thought I already had something planned for us to do. I had him pretty tricked because I told him that we were going back to Logan and my mom was keeping the kids again overnight. Once we got to the freeway ramp, I had to tell him to go south instead of north, so he knew we were doing something else, but still wasn't sure. The plan was to meet a few friends at the Cheesecake factory for dinner and then head to the game, but it didn't quite work out. We got there and it was REALLY crowded and everyone was running late. Darren still had no clue about the game - He just thought we were going to dinner until Jesse and Christina showed up in their Real jerseys and then he figured it out - He was SO happy! We ended up taking our Cheesecake to go and eating at the Crown Burger near the stadium so we could make it to the game on time. A few friends were able to join us - Jesse and Christina Winn and Robb and Carlie Lifferth and Darren's brother, Cory, and his girlfriend, Katie. It was really fun! Darren enjoying his cheesecake! It was a bummer we couldn't eat there, but the cheesecake is the best part anyway. Jesse and Christina bought Darren a Real jersey, which he was SO excited about and Cory went to "Meet the Players" day and got Darren a ball autographed by the whole team! I am pretty sure that Darren thinks he needs a whole man cave now just to display his prize ball! I told him he wasn't supposed to get such cool gifts and show me up like that!

Darren was pretty excited to get into the game! We were actually on time and had good seats! We usually just sit in the cheap ones, but it was fun to be closer!

The boys outside the Real stadium! Jesse, Cory, Robb and Darren

Me and Darren ready to go into the game!

Darren and Robb at the game! Robb and Carlie had never been to a MLS game before and I think we converted them - They loved it, or at least said they did! Cory and Katie and Jesse and Christina had other tickets, so we didn't get to sit by them at the game, although there were some extra seats by us so Cory and Katie moved over by us at halftime. It was a really fun game! I think it was more fun than usual for me because we had great seats and the kids weren't there, so I was able to actually WATCH the game and pay attention!

Me and Darren cheering for Real! They played the Houston Dynamo and tied 0-0. Not the most exciting game since no one scored, but still fun.

Darren and Cory after the game

We got home really late on Saturday night and then had church super early on Sunday (8:30). After church, we celebrated with the kids. I felt kind of bad that they had been left out of so much of our celebrating. They were SO excited to give Daddy their presents!

They were especially excited to give Daddy this funny card that sings! They got him one for Father's Day, too, and they think they are hilarious!
Rylee picked out Daddy's favorite treat to get him - Reese's Big Cups!

Logan asked to buy Daddy a basketball hoop about a million times, but we couldn't really do that without any yard or anything yet. His next request was to get Darren a bike, but I didn't really think that was in the budget either. He finally settled on Silly String! Talk about from one extreme to another!!!

Logan HAD to go and test out the Silly String right away! They had a lot of fun spraying it and it was gone pretty quickly!

Darren and his presents. I didn't get him much since most of his present was all the stuff we did over the weekend and the Real tickets. I did get him some new clothes and a new Kenny Chesney CD and I ordered him a cable package of soccer games that he is very excited about! It was a pretty big sacrifice for me - I think he watched 6 soccer games the first week I ordered it!

The kids also picked out this yummy ice cream oreo cake at the store and the candles! They were so excited to sing to Daddy and have him blow them out!

Can you believe this guy is 30? He is really getting up there! Darren is the BEST husband and father and is always helping with things around the house or making dinner and other stuff! He is so great to me, especially lately when I haven't felt up to doing as much. He is so great with the kids and they love playing with them and he is always willing to go along with whatever they want to do. They are so lucky to have that kind of dad and to be able to spend so much time with him! Darren always puts us first and I really love that about him! Happy 30th Babe! I hope it was a good one - You deserve it!