Twenty Nine

Yesterday was my birthday, and I am now a shockingly-close-to-thirty 29-year-old! I spent the anniversary of my birth enjoying the beautiful sunshine (thank you, Earth!) and reflecting on everything that's happened since my birthday last year. I had somehow always known that the year I was 28 would be significant and special, and it certainly did turn out that way. So many of my dreams became reality. My life now is so different from how it was a year ago, in a multitude of wonderful ways: the bakfiets, the pregnancy, the new house, the animals, living next door to my mom and sister . . . it's rather overwhelming, really!

Of course, the past year wasn't all loveliness. And I appreciate how Life works out like that. How birth and death can occur simultaneously, and our happiest of times can also be our saddest of times. It was shortly after my birthday last year that my parents separated and then decided to get divorced. Last year on my birthday, we (my mom, dad, Lena, Zeben and I) were sitting in the yard sharing a picnic lunch, talking about my parents' new house and all of the exciting plans for the summer. I remember my parents asking me what I wanted for my birthday, and insisting to them that they'd already given me the best gift they ever could: they were moving out here to be near us and be more present in the kids' lives. It was so amazing that it didn't feel real. And, as it turned out, it wasn't real. Instead, it has been an intense year of on-going adjustment, as I've struggled to help my mother through a crippling depression, and adjusted my vision of the future and my family. So there was something bittersweet about my birthday this year as I thought about all that has changed and all that could have been.

Still, it was an amazing day, with perfect weather and plenty of surprises. The main celebratory event was a potluck that we hosted in the backyard. It was my ideal birthday party: amazing friends and family, delicious food, sun and breeze, a fire burning, happy packs of children running about, plenty of drooly, smiling babies, and nothing for me to do but relax, eat, and take some pictures.

The balloons were the first guests to arrive.
I used blank wooden peg figures as weights,
and they worked very well.

The kids' table
(Aviva, Rio, Zeben and Sina)

Zeb and his pal, Sina, busy eating

Baby Linus and the blue balloon

Katie, Aaron, and Eli

It was as if they hadn't eaten watermelon since last summer
(oh right, they hadn't!)

Two cakes!
A cheesecake that I made for Lena (who took her LAST exam that morning)
And a chocolate birthday cake for me (my favorite, from my favorite bakery)

Blowing out my candles
(with lots of help!)

The party came at the end of a day full of fun and special events. Luke and Jaz woke me up with my first gift: a box of wooden dinosaurs (since they know how much I love dinosaurs and how much I love wooden toys).

The next special thing also arrived in the box of a wooden dinosaur . . .


But the contents was something much noiser than any wooden toy I've ever seen:

8 day-old chicks!

And my wife had a very sweet surprise in store for me, indeed (aside from the one who's due to arrive in about six weeks).

Who could ask for anything more?

She went behind my back, and turned my first year of blog posts into a book! A really thick, really nice, and fancy book!


Some of my favorite posts pages:

"RIP, Peter Parker"

"A Thin Slice of Heaven"

"Collaborative Art"

I've been having a great time flipping through and remembering about all sorts of forgotten happenings. I'm so glad that I have this hard copy to save and one day show the kids. Thank you, Love!

I'm still formulating my goals for the coming year, the last of my twenties! . . . More on those soon. Also stay tuned for my very first giveaway (something I'm told I'm way overdue for), more "chicky" news, and a bike week report. Welcome, 29!