The Weekend of Ryan

I'm two weeks behind posting about this! Its been hard finding time to blog lately...

Ryan's birthday is June 14 (also Flag Day!) and it falls pretty close to Father's Day each year. This year his birthday was on Saturday and Father's Day was the very next day, so we had one big weekend of celebrating Ryan! This year he turned 29...crazy! I can't believe that much time has passed since he was the 22-year-old I married! I make a big deal out of all birthdays and celebrations, and even though we didn't throw a big party or anything, I wanted the weekend to be special. Ryan's brother Eric and our sister-in-law Hayley offered to watch Thomas all day Saturday so Ryan and I could spend his birthday together, kid-free. Thanks so much guys!

So, for Ryan's birthday we just drove around doing whatever Ryan wanted to do. We went to look at furniture/home decor, went to the Parade of Homes, got ice cream, went to a couple dirtbike shops, and we tried to go see the cool new Harley Davidson dealership in Lindon but it had already closed. For dinner we went to McGrath's fish house, which was kind of a gift to Ryan in and of itself...I really don't like seafood and Ryan can never get me to go to a seafood restaurant unless its his birthday! I do like Halibut, so that was my saving grace. Ryan got the King Crab, which he absolutely loves. Then we went to see Ironman, and we both really liked it...we love all superhero movies. The end of the movie definitely indicates there will be a sequel and I'm so excited! (For those of you who haven't seen it yet, make sure to wait til the very end of the credits for an additional scene!)

Ryan is really hard to buy gifts for, since the major things he's into, like dirtbiking, are hard for me to do any shopping for without him there showing me exactly what he needs/wants. And he usually has a hard time even coming up with things he needs or wants, because he just gets them himself! Well, this year Ryan actually had a suggestion for a gift...a Blu-Ray DVD player. I don't think he was fully expecting to get one since they're so expensive, but a couple weeks before his birthday we were at Costco and were looking at the Blu-Ray players, and I decided to just spoil him and get one. Ryan was so excited about it...it was worth it!


So, even though Ryan got his big birthday gift awhile before his birthday, I still wanted to get him a something for the actual day. I am very insistent that people celebrate their birthday on the actual day, even if they already did something to celebrate it previously or they are planning to celebrate it at a later date. I think the actual day should always be recognized! So, I ended up getting Ryan a couple of Blu-Ray DVD's: the just released action movie "Jumper" which we hadn't seen yet, and a scenic documentary called "Over America." Ryan loves that kind of stuff...I got him both the "Planet Earth" and "Blue Planet" documentary series for Christmas and he watches them all the time. Thomas got his Daddy a birthday gift too..a whole bunch of chocolate! =)

One sad thing was that Ryan got very sick the week or so before his birthday. He was coughing terribly and it got so bad he couldn't breathe well, especially at night, and he started to think he might have bronchitis. He finally went to the doctor and was diagnosed with Pneumonia! I freaked out a little bit, but the doctor gave him three different medications, including an inhaler, and they helped Ryan start feeling better really quickly. The doctor said it would probably take a full month for Ryan to get back to 100%, but I was so glad he started feeling better before his birthday.

And how sweet is this? Just a few days before his birthday, while he was sick, Ryan brought me home a bouquet of lilies! I had pointed out recently that I was acquiring a lot of vases (because for special occasions Ryan usually gets me these lovely flower arrangements already in vases) and I mentioned he could just get me a bouquet sometimes instead, so I could use my vases more. So just a couple days later, he did! I was very impressed. =)

So, on to Father's Day...I wanted to give Ryan something separate for that day and make it special too. (I love to give gifts! Can you tell?) =) The one thing I had to get him was a tie. Ever since I was pregnant with Thomas on Ryan's first Father's Day, I've made a little tradition of getting him a tie every Father's Day. I love shopping for ties! I got him this really classy, dark blue and black striped one. I always tell Ryan the Father's Day tie is from Thomas, because isn't a tie the classic gift for kids to give their dads? As Thomas gets older it will be fun to have him help me pick it out, along with whatever siblings might come along (...no, that's not an announcement folks!). Ryan likes to barbecue, so I also got him a nice set of grilling tools, and I got him one of those nice charging stations that holds your phones/MP3 players/PDA's and has places to put your keys and wallet and stuff. We love it! It keeps things much more organized and nice-looking...no ugly tangle of wires!

So, after church on Father's Day Ryan opened his second set of gifts and we had a one-day-late birthday cake (a fabulous German Chocolate Cake made by Eric & Hayley...thanks again guys!). Later that night we went out to my parents' house for dinner, which we do most Sunday nights, but it was especially nice to be able to see my Dad on Father's Day. I got him a tie too! =)

I want to thank my husband for being such a wonderful daddy to our little son. Ryan is such a patient, loving father and I love to watch him and Thomas together...Tommy loves his daddy so much! I want to thank my Dad, who has always been a great teacher and example. He taught me to make good choices, to have confidence in myself and to be strong in the face of adversity. I also want to thank my Father-in-Law, Glenn, who welcomed me into his family from day one and has always been so kind, caring and supportive. Thank you all for being such awesome Dads! I am blessed to have such good men in my life and I am so grateful for each of you!