Last week was my thirty-first birthday. I wasn't dreading it, but I wasn't necessarily looking forward to it either. I was going to be content to just let it pass as just another day (with presents of course). Justin was working nights and sleeping days so as a present to myself I bought a couple TV dinners for the kids (so I wouldn't have to cook) and had recorded a few shows on TV that I knew Justin wouldn't want to watch. It was going to be a good day.
Then Sunday night happened. Literally a half hour after Justin left for work I got violently ill. I was up half the night as sick as I can ever remember being. By the time Monday (my birthday) came around I was tired, sick, and wanting desperately to crash. Justin called shortly after I got Clayton on the bus and asked me about my plans for the morning. I told him that after I dropped Noah off at school I was going to come home, put on a show for Josie, and crash. Justin, however, had other ideas for me. He was fairly insistent that I go to the gym. I was pretty sure I'd rather die, but he was so insistent that I figured something was up so I went. I spent an hour and a half on the recumbant bike, slowly pedaling with all my elderly friends.
Finally it was time to pick up Noah and head home. I was hoping that Justin had cleaned the house in my absence and that, despite how tired I was sure he was I was hoping that perhaps he'd let me take a little nap. When I pulled up to the house, my garage wouldn't open up. At this point I was sick, tired and now frustrated. The kids and I headed into the house and were greeted by Justin. As I'd hoped, the house was clean. As I was surverying the job Justin had done, something caught my eye. I was certain I was wrong - that my eyes were playing tricks on me. I was NOT wrong however, there was no mirage. Suddenly, in my kitchen, were MISSY AND CHASE!!
Our amazing friends had spent a month planning this trip with Justin and had traveled all the way from Vermont just to be with me on my birthday! All of a sudden, the sickness, the fatigue, the frustration (which suddenly made sense - Justin needed me out of the house to sneak them in, and they'd parked in the garage so Justin had to turn off the automatic door opener so I wouldn't see their car) were gone. I was surprised, happy, and ready to party.
They stayed for a week. We had the best time. It was like Team Smithersen had never been apart. We watched movies (some good, some not so good), visited the fine tourist attractions of South Bend, ate some really good food, and laughed...a lot! Because I was so busy having the best week ever, I didn't take hardly any pictures. I snapped a few of the awesome birthday cake Missy made me (I've seriously never had such an elaborate or delicious birthday cake in my life), and snapped a few pictures of when we took the kids to the train museum. It's not much, but enjoy:
Missy with the (almost) finished product. It was incredibly delicious. Sometimes pretty cakes aren't good, this one was! One layer of chocolate with cookies and cream filling, one layer of vanilla with fruit filling, and one layer of red velvet. Mmmmmm...
Just Josie. I swear, sometimes I wish that they made her clothes in my size. I'd wear that sweater. Yes I would.
How is this the only picture I have of all three boys together!?! These boys were so happy to be together again. It was like no time had passed!
At the train museum. We didn't take Josie with us last time we went. She loved it!
'I've been working on the railroad...'
This is just a cute picture of Enoch.
Noah with the big train tire.
BFF's.
Like I said, sadly short on pictures. I wish we'd taken more. We'll have to take more next time we get together (because there WILL be a next time)! I love the Petersen's and am SO glad they came. It made my birthday the best ever! Despite all our desperate begging and pleading, they left earlier this week. We have been in mourning ever since.
In summary. Justin promised me that this year my birthday would be 'thirty-fun'. He came through in a way that I couldn't have even fathomed. I got an iPad AND a visit from some of my favorite people EVER (the visit from the Petersens beats the iPad of course)! It was an amazing birthday and I'm officially not sure Justin can top it (but oh, how I'd like to see him try)!
We ate lunch at Giordano's. It came highly recommended and did not disappoint! 
Check out that pizza. Yum! I ate one piece and was stuffed for the next two days! 
Buying cupcakes from a van on the street. Sounds a little shady, but they were seriously delicious cupcakes!! 
My sister brought her 7 month old baby, Max, with her. It was the first time I'd ever met him and he's absolutely DELICIOUS! We all fell in love with him. Josie got to practice big-sister-ing. We've got a ways to go, but she was so fascinated with Max! 
Max has this awesome hair that just can't be tamed. It sticks straight up all over his head all the time. So cute. While he was here, he got his first haircut. 
Josie was enthralled with the process and we had a rough time keeping her out of the action. 
Almost done... 
The result. The mohawk was perfect for him because his hair sticks up naturally anyway. 
We went to the AG fair (agricultural fair) while Ashley and Anisha were here, but I took so many pictures that that will be my next post. However, here are a few to tease you with: 
Ashley's birthday is on Tuesday, so we wanted to have one big family dinner to celebrate before she left. We chose Chili's because of it's kid-friendly nature (although Clayton didn't understand why she didn't want to choose Chuck E Cheese). It was actually better than I'd expected. With 6 adults and 8 kids 6 and under it could have been a disaster, but it was really fun! Josie wasn't such a fan at first (she and I were sitting on the opposite end from most of the other kids, so she was missing out on all the fun - which was a good thing for her). 
She perked up after a snack though! 
It felt like there were so many of us! I can't imagine what this table would have looked like if we would have had my parents, Ben, and Jeremiah with us. Crazy! It's only going to get crazier too as we keep adding kids into the mix! 
We gave Noah a lemon. Awesome! 
Uh-oh, kids are getting restless at the end of the meal!! iPad to the rescue! 
I regret that I didn't take more pictures, but we were having so much fun that I kept forgetting! It was so fun to have them here to visit and I can't wait for them to come back!
