It's a Great Day to Celebrate . . .

. . . Grandma Harris! This birthday girl has graced this world with her kindness, service, and beauty for 78 years!

Happy Birthday Grandma! I love you!

Twenty Seven

(My dear sister Cecily made this beautiful "Better than, (pause) you know" cake. It's my favorite.)

My birthday was earlier this month, but I was so busy with my internship, I didn't get a chance to post my usual refections of growing a year older. Funny thing about birthdays--everyone has a different opinion of them. Some people are fanatics. They don't celebrate birth-DAYS, they celebrate birth-MONTHS. Others are more quiet about it. They don't make a hullabaloo, but make sure to treat themselves to a little something. And then there are some that want everyone else to know when their birthday is, so they make sure to broadcast it at least a month in advance to everyone within earshot. They do this so that no one forgets to make them feel special on that day. And then, there are the people who have birthday-phobia. They hide their birthday from everyone except the people from whom they can't hide it (like their moms.) When asked, they refuse to reveal the day they were born. Heck, if they could, they wouldn't even tell the DMV.

With the exception on the last group, I have fallen into all of these categories. Perhaps because I was a child of six and thus had to fight for attention, I always wanted to feel special on my birthday. I've been blessed with a dear friend to feels that birthdays should be like Christmas and makes a point to go out of her way to spoil others on their birthday. She even drove 13 hours from Arizona to Sacramento, CA to surprise me on my birthday a few years ago.Yup, she's a die hard and I love her for it. Perhaps because of her example, I feel that everyone should feel special and loved on their birthday. It's not only the day a person entered this world, but it's the day that his or her greatest test began. For that is what this life is. It is one big test to see what kind of person we will be. Every year of this gigantic test that is completed should be celebrated.

I have come to believe, however, that birthdays are best when they are about serving others. If you hope for a fabulous birthday, full of presents and recognition, you are bound to be disappointed. But if you focus more on other's birthdays, and try and make them feel loved on those days, then you can feel birthday joy throughout the year. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't celebrate yourself. It just that the basic service principle applies. You can't expect others to serve you and doing so won't bring happiness. You can only serve others, and that is where the happiness comes.  

This year I worked 10 hours in a law office where no one knew it was my birthday. I ate lunch alone. I didn't open a present. (May family did give me some wonderfully thoughtful gifts a few days later. But nothing on my actual day). But, my sister made me a wonderful cake, my mom cooked me a steak dinner, and I laughed with my parents and siblings all night long. It was the simplest birthday I have ever had and I am grateful for it because when it comes down to it, family, food, and laughter are the best combination in life.

I am grateful for my mother who not only endured months of nausea and 26 hours of labor to bring me into this this world, but cracked her tail bone in the process. I am grateful for a father who welcomed me into the world with open arms and held my hand whenever I needed something to hold onto. I'm grateful for siblings who came after who have become my most important friends. I am grateful for other loving family members and friends who have loved me. I am grateful for my husband, even though he called me at 12:01am to sing me happy birthday. It was worth waking up for. I am thankful for good food, beautiful music, the glorious outdoors, and adventures. But most of all, I am grateful that God gave us this wonderful world and provided a way for us to return to Him once our mortal test is complete.

I've lived 27 years. I never thought I would get this old, but I am so glad I did because the truth is, life is good. It is oh so good.

Val is a Quarter of a Century!

Friends are one of the great blessings of life. I truly believe that every person that comes into our lives has something to teach us, if only we will take the opportunity to learn from them. While some friends come into our lives only to leave it, if we are really lucky, we will gather a few friendships that will last a lifetime.

I have been very blessed, not only with a wonderful family, a full life, and faith that sustains and uplifts me, but also with many dear friends that teach me, support me, and make me smile.

One such friend has been there almost from the beginning. In fact, our families have a long history of friendship with our grandfathers working together and our mothers going to the same stake activities in their youth. I met Valorie Summers in second grade on the tether ball courts of Frontier Elementary School. She beat me at a game of tether ball and we have been friends ever since. Now, don't get me wrong, our friendship has not always been a bowl of peaches and cream, but as we have grown, so has our friendship. She is truly like a sister to me and I am so grateful for that.

Now, Val lives in Utah, I live in Oregon, but that was not going to stop me from celebrating her 25th birthday. She is so good at making others feel so special on their birthdays, that I wanted to return the favor. So, after careful planning, I boarded a plane for Sacramento to surprise her for her quarter of a century mark. She was there visiting family and had no idea I was coming.

Watch the video below to see her face as I showed up on her doorstep. Beware: I have a really annoying laugh in this video.

Needless to say, she had no idea I was coming. It was great. The first night, Val wanted to go rollerskating. Now, you may not know this, but Val is a rollerskating extraordinaire! She even took lessons as a kid. I, on the other hand, just try and make it around the rink without falling down and making a fool of myself.

Here's Val, Stephanie Summers, and I as we ride to to Foothill Skate.

By the way, doesn't Sacramento have the most beautiful sunsets?

Val and Steph rock the rink.

Steph can do some tricks.

Here's proof that I did make it around the rink. Actually, by the end I was feeling pretty confident.
Hasn't Steph grown into such a beautiful Young Woman? And Val is beautiful as always.


Although she is amazing on eight wheels, we all have accidents. Here's Val icing her elbow after a small tumble. I took a dive of my own an hour later.

We got a bit tired and decided to play with my camera a bit.

It was a fun night.

The next day we took my rental car back to the airport (Yes, I got my first rental car. It was amazing!) and then headed out to the Galleria Mall in Roseville for some shopping. I love this sign that we saw along the back roads in Roseville.

Larry, Steph and Kim Summers joined us.

In El Dorado Hills, where the Summers live now, there are these boulders that everyone paints for fun. Brianne painted them for Val for her birthday. She did a great job and Val was surprised.

Larry with his camcorder, always ready to catch that great memory on film.

Yeah, we rock.

The Summers girls minus Sharlene who is living in Utah.

Best buds.

Here's the back of the rocks. They have been painted over so many times that there is an inch thick layer of paint over them.

I loved Bri's Jackie-O sunglasses.

Another beautiful Sacramento sunset as seen from the back porch of their house.

Val really loves her dog Bear. She can't stop giving him kisses! I love this pic :)

A girl and her puppy-dogg.

I made Val's favorite, "better than almost anything cake." You can get the recipe off the back of any Betty Crocker German Chocolate Cake mix. It's so yummy with caramel and sweetened condensed milk poured over the cake before you frost it.

She blew all 25 candles out, and you know what that means. Her wish will come true!

I feel very lucky to have a true best friend and it was so fun to go and visit and celebrate with her and her family for her birthday. I know that the next 25 years will be even more amazing. What do you say Val? Shall we go on a European cruise for our 50th?

The Update.

A lot has been going on lately and I haven't been as good as I want to in posting. So, I'm just going to post it all at once here.

In late July my family and I made a trip down to Sacramento to be with the Jensen side of the family. It stated out with a 5K run to support the Alzheimer's Association. Most everyone came and it was A LOT of fun. The kids races were adorable. Unfortunately my camera died right before so I couldn't take any pictures. I ran and had a pretty good time, and am excited to run more races in the future.

The next day we had a surprise 50th birthday party for my Mom. It was at my aunt Rachelle's house in Lincoln, CA. It was a lot of work, but I think it went well. Because of the run and the DeLucia family reunion that weekend, a lot of people were able to come. What was really neat was that three of my Mom's friends from high school came. She hasn't seen some of them for years. The coolest thing was that they had all joined the church during/after high school. As I was talking to some of them, I came to realize what an influence for good my mother has been in so many people's lives. Because of her quite, humble, daily diligence in following Christ, she has helped so many other come to see the goodness of His eternal plan and mercy. I am truly grateful to have such a wonderful Mother.

Aunt Caryn, Scott, Grandpa Jensen, and Uncle Tom all wait for the birthday girl to arrive.

Surprise! Marcia arrives at her 50th Birthday party. Uncle Kent and Aunt Marian look on.
Mom, and her high school friends, Kimmy and Dawn.Abby, Lindsay, Micheal, and Vicki Stevens enjoy the party.
Mom and her high school buds blow out 50 candles together.
My cute princess cousins Joelle and Sofia.
Max, the cutest redhead!

I snatch some pics of the men of my family on our road trip home from California. Kyle, Dad, and Adam.

Lindsay Wooley and I at Katie Farr's 20th Birthday bash. I love this girl. She is so sweet!

A beautiful Oregon sunset!

The Girls, Elle, Lindsay, me, & Dianna.

Sarah, Spalding and I after we went and saw Mama Mia. Such a good flick. I wanted to leave that theatre dancing!

This last weekend I went and saw Nathan perform the lead role of his drama group play called, "The Princess Test." He was the prince and did a fantastic job! The play was just so adorable with all the kids ages 8-11 putting on the production in a local family's backyard. For only having 4 days to prepare, it was amazing and Nathan remembered all of his lines! Go Nathan!