The Big 3-0

I'm married to an old man!!!!

Not really, but he did hit a life milestone by turning 30.  He says he feels old (could it also be because a third kid is on the way???), but I've felt 30 for a few years now.  Most of our friends are older than us, so I just feel like we're all the same age.

Plus- who wants to be 20 again?  NOT. ME.

I was a good wife and obeyed by not planning any surprise parties or big birthday bashes.  His birthday was on a Saturday though- which means we got to celebrate all weekend long!

Friday night was the party with the kids.  At his request, I made a Cream Cheese Braid instead of a birthday cake.  He wanted a movie night, so the kids and I dug through the $5 movie bin at Walmart (where there are some real gems!) where I found Gremlins and couldn't resist.  Then we each got to pick a treat.  We also had air popped popcorn, and sprite.  The kids even insisted on turning off all the lights to make it dark just like the theater.  It was the best night at home!  We're so lucky to have such a fun family.

**Highlight of the night:  Will's giggle when one of the Gremlins exploded in the microwave on the movie!

Saturday night- the day of his actual birthday- we dropped the kids off at Grandma K's with Happy Meals and went to Baja Cantina with some friends.  We used to go to Baja all the time, but it has really been years since we've been.  Our friends Katie and Mitch Nelson (in the back), and TJ and Audra Thomas (the couple on the right) went with us.  The food was sooooooooo gooooooooood.  I ate my fair share- as you can see from the picture ;).

**Highlight of the night-  Laughing over cake and ice cream with TJ and Audra.

 Sunday Dallas had to speak in church <----  Not his favorite birthday weekend activity.  He did such a great job!  I was reminded how blessed I am to be married to such an honest man.  That day we de-stressed by snuggling, and then my Mom made it up for his favorite dinner- homemade lasagna.

**Highlight of the day- Being done with the talk!

Dallas is such an incredible man.  I'm thankful every day that I get to be his wife.  For his big birthday, I wanted to write down 30 of my favorite Dallas memories...

1-  The first time we held hands.  It was following blowing up pumpkins with dry ice bombs at SUU.
2-  Going camping in mid-November at Three Peaks with Whitney and Will when we first started dating.  The boys slept on the rocks while the girls got the cushy back of the truck.
3-  Our first kiss on the steps of my apartment.
4-  Our first date- watching the movie Chicago and dinner at Wendy's.  I'm a cheap date.
5-  Bonfires at Three Peaks where our firewood was an entire tree.
6-  Finding a dead rabbit on my porch one day- a love gift from him?  Gross and somewhat horrifying, but it still makes me laugh.
7-  The day I knew I was going to marry him.  He had come to visit during spring break at my parents house.  We were hanging out in my room and my Mom called, "Amy, Dallas, dinner is ready!"  Standing there with him, hearing my mother say our names together, it just felt like home.  From that day on I knew that as long as I was with him, I was home.
8- When he proposed to me.  Our heads were pressed together outside of my Aunt Elaine's house.  He asked me as we were standing there- not on one knee, not holding the ring- but as equals.
9-  During our receiving line at our wedding open house in Heber when I found out- and met- his former parole officer.  Hilarious.
10-  When we lived in Cedar City there was this crazy lightning storm.  It was snowing outside, and each flash lit up the entire world.  We got in the car and drove around to get a better look.  We still haven't seen anything like that since.
11-  When he bought me Scooter!  I was coming back from a long day in Evanston working for Movie Gallery, and our cars parallelled as we hit US 40.  He held up this tiny little brown and white fur ball in the window and I couldn't stop smiling.  Best gift ever.
12- Going to California together and seeing Sea World, Disneyland, and the ocean, and how he didn't divorce me when I accidentally erased all of our pictures from the camera as we were headed to the airport.
13- Signing the papers as we bought our first house.  Woah Nelly.  We had no idea what we were getting into. We celebrated with lunch at Taco Maker.
14-  As hard as it was, working on our home together is one of my favorite memories.  Scraping primer off the walls, crying over leaky roofs, sanding, and spackling, more sanding and painting.  Our blood sweat and tears were poured into that house.
15-  Telling him that we were expecting our first baby.  He couldn't decide if he was scared or excited.
16-  Finishing the Book of Mormon together in the final minutes before the new year began so that we could complete Pres. Hinckley's challenge.
17-  The night we were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple- we worked so hard to get there and we went when we were both ready.  It was the perfect day, so full of peace and love.
18-  Our first trip to Moab!  We got to discover Delicate Arch, Hell's Revenge, and all of the other many things we love about Moab together for the first time.
19-   Will's birth.  He could barely stay in the room because he kept getting woozy.  He would walk into the hallway, and then his Mom would send him back in.  Before I had him Dallas had said, "I probably won't really hold the baby."  Wrong!  Becoming parents for the first time, you can't even explain how the love hits you so instantaneously.  He was such a proud Dad.
20-  I found out what we were naming our son by Dallas' friend Ben Hansen's parents.  Dallas never wanted to talk names!  The night he was born, he still wouldn't say.  That morning Dallas had left to let the dogs out and ran into the Hansen's at the hospital.  He told them where I was and they came to see the baby.  Craig said, "William Bentley Nicoll- what a great name!"  It was the first time I had heard my own son's name!
21-  The way he held me as I cried when I knew my Grandma Lola was going to pass away.  (She ended up passing the next day.  Coincidentally it was very similar when my Grandma Jewel passed several years later).
22-  Our anniversary that we spent at the Hilton in Salt Lake.  We had dinner at the Garden in the Joseph Smith Building, and then we watched them demolish Key Bank from our hotel window the next morning.  Ha!  It was our first night away since we had kids and it was so fun to remember how much we love just being together.
23-  Annie's birth.  I wasn't exactly expecting to have a natural (drug free) delivery.  When things got intense, he held me and let me hold him as tightly as I needed.  He was all I needed to get through and welcome our sweet girl.
24-  The next day after we had Annie, I woke up to see him holding our sweet baby girl.  He was so much more tender with her.  It was just.... different.  He could be a rough and tumble Dad, and a sweet and snuggly Dad as well.
25-  Our Anniversary trip to the Tetons.  Of course we missed the kids like crazy, but we had the best time hiking, canoeing, eating out, and exploring together.  It is, to date, our best anniversary ever!
26-  When I ran my first Ragnar Relay, he surprised me during the last mile and a half of my last leg.  He had drug the kids out of bed so early, just to cheer and support me.
27-  Our kiss after I ran my first marathon, the Top of Utah Marathon.  I could hardly walk over to my family because my calves were cramping so bad.  I've never felt like he was so proud of me as he was in that moment.
28-  When our friends lost their daughter Quincy this year, I got to see Dallas work through his own grief by serving his friend.  He never asked for thanks.  He never even had to be asked to serve.
29-  Finding out we were expecting baby #3.  I took the pregnancy test and left it under the bathroom counter.  I told him to go look under the counter.  He came back out and said, "So what does that mean???"
30-  Dallas likes it when I buy him big things.  I like it when he smiles his big smile.  Most of the time this happens when I gift him things like range finders and guns- which is what he got for his birthday this year.

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY, DALLAS!!!  I love you.  I'm so looking forward to the next 30 years (and beyond).