Andrew is 40!

Andrew turned 40 on Thursday, which happens to be his mega-day on campus. I also have an evening class on Thursdays, so he typically ends up arriving home a few minutes before my class lets out and begins instituting bedtime. So...we didn't do much to celebrate him on Thursday. 

He did put up a birthday banner for himself on his birthday-eve though, which I told him was pretty sad when I went down to put up some 40th birthday decorations I'd gotten for him. 

Anyway, we didn't really do anything for him on his birthday proper, and then on Friday he had to teach an all-day seminar. And Zoë had a primary activity in the evening. And the other kids had a sleep-over at Grandpa's house (while Darla was off in California for a new grandbaby's blessing celebration). 

We couldn't really celebrate the day beforehand because Wednesday is mutual night and Tuesday is my mega-day on campus...and...yeah...

So, we didn't end up celebrating Andrew until Saturday evening and it was a pretty chill celebration. Rachel made a salted caramel spice cake. We sang. We ate. That's...just about it.

Phoebe practiced singing "Happy Birthday!" all week (it helped that we had a few birthdays leading up to Andrew's...first Logan's, then Millie's, then Arwyn's...and we made little videos of us singing for each of them), so she led us in singing "Happy Birthday!" to Andrew.

Here you can see she's already begun singing while everyone else is still (somewhat) posing for a picture:

We tend to be pretty low key around here, but I think that's okay.

We have friends who went down to Lake Powell this week to celebrate a 40th birthday and the husband slipped off the houseboat and got sucked into the propeller just as it was starting up. Very fortunately he was able to swim away but...his feet got all chopped up and they had to drive 40 minutes to get to the marina to meet an ambulance to take them to a helicopter to fly them back to UVRMC so he could have surgery and...they're not really sure what the outcome of that is going to be.

And I...am definitely praying it's a good outcome for them. 

But I'm also feeling a little bit grateful for boring.

Boring is good. Boring is what you want.

That's what Andrew's dad always says.

And he's not wrong!

So happy 40th to Andrew! 

Sorry-not-sorry it was kind of boring?

Here he is sitting next to Phoebe during scripture study this evening. She had a hard day and was so sleepy during scriptures. She kept falling asleep and then jolting awake and mumbling, "I'm awake!"

She wanted Daddy and no one else, since he was there for her in her moment of need this afternoon.

The big kids (Rachel, Miriam, and Benjamin) skipped choir so they could get ready to go to a meeting and then a fireside. I stayed after church for choir with Zoë. Andrew took Alexander and Phoebe home. 

While the big kids were bustling about the kitchen, preparing meals for themselves to eat while on the road, Phoebe was playing with the alphabet magnets on the side of the fridge. In a series of unfortunate events, Rachel opened the fridge door...and Phoebe stuck her hand in the hinge...and then Rachel closed the fridge door...and...

I mean, it's no boat propeller (thank goodness), but Phoebe's little fingers got squished. She was very sad and spent the rest of the afternoon cuddled up with Daddy, watching cartoons (all the while moaning about her bandaid, "It's healed! It's healed!").

Here it is all cleaned up with some "liquid skin" glue stuff on it because she cannot stand bandaids but kind of needs one: