Today was Ryan's 30th birthday....he was a little depressed about turning 30, so of course I had to play it up:-) Check out the signs in our front yard:

Now if you look really close, you can see they put the wrong name on the liscense plate the old man has. His name is obviously not "Bryan"...but the lady I ordered the signs through thought I had said that over the phone. The sign on the left also had "Bryan" on it, but I was able to take the B off to make it "Ryan". I guess it will be more memorable now. We joked all day that Ryan had an imaginary friend named Bryan that was also turning 30. The funny part is that Ryan used to be called Bryan all the time growing up by people that didn't hear his name correctly. So this was actually pretty fitting for him.
Aside from the signs I bought him a couple gag gifts, this being one of them:

Yes, they are
Depends. I was actually mad that he opened up the package and put them on, because they were expensive! I was planning on taking them back after he opened the gift, but he tore right into those suckers:-) So if anyone out there needs some Depends, give me a call......I have a whole bunch for you.
All joking aside, I am so thankful that God put this man in my life. He is the most wonderful husband and father...I know a lot of people say that, but I feel so blessed and lucky that he is a part of my life. I was going to make a list of 30 things I appreciate about him for his 30th birthday, but unfortunately never got around to it. One of these days I will do that. Here are a few I can come up with off the top of my head:
He is so grounded. Whenever things get heated between us, he is the calm, rational, grounded one. If it weren't for him I don't know if we would ever resolve conflict:-)
He keeps his faith and his family his top priorities. He truely does. He has been offered many lucrative positions in the past that would have required much more travel or time in the office, and he wants nothing to do with that. We are so blessed that he works from home. The kids get to see daddy at lunch and every day at 4pm when he's done working. How amazing is that!
He is completely motivated. The man wants something done he will make it happen.
He is a complete hands-on dad. He's the one rolling around on the floor playing body-slam with the boys. He changes diapers all the time. He feeds Elise for me. He gives me a night out every week while he takes care of the kids. He gives baths to the boys almost every night. I could go on and on.
He loves to take care of me. He is always asking if he can help me in any way and genuinely means it. When I was sick during my pregnancies, he was willing to do whatever it took to make me feel better (including running to the store several times in one night to try different medications/remedies).
Okay, I've GOT to get to bed. Exhausted. Can hardly read screen. Hope this even makes sense:-) I'll leave you with a picture of when we first started dating (over 12 years ago). Hilarious! Happy Birthday Ryan......we love you.