happy birthday

My best friend had a birthday! 

photo by Jalene Taylor

He is 27. 

and I thought I was an oldy-old!  hah!

It was so much fun to celebrate him on his birthday.

It kinda stinks as you get older because life gets harder and harder to work around on your birthday.

This year he had to work and then we drove up to Logan to speak at a church Youth Conference.

 

-Kind of a stressful event for your birthday, but we were happy to do it.

It was a HUGE plus that it was in Logan,

 because we relish every moment we get to spend in Cache Valley.

I'm not sure if it is the mountains that turn pink just before sunset,

the majestic temple gleaming on her hilltop,

Utah State CAMPUS in all her splendor,

or just the fact that we have millions of wonderful memories together there.

But I can't help but smile (and sometimes tear up)

as we drive through the canyon towards Logan.

Once we were done putting crazy ideas into teenager's minds,

 we took a stroll around campus to show Beck the glory of Utah State.

We let him run around on the quad while we admired all the new buildings they have added to campus.

We visited old friends for a minute, and made plans for a real visit soon.

We also made sure to stop at our favorite ice cream shop on the way out of town.

All in all I think he thought it was a great day.

but we didn't end there!

The best part of Chase's birthday, is that it goes right along with the 4th of July.

That meant that Saturday was a continuation of his birthday party,

and he had no complaints about that!

Our town has a pretty big celebration for Independence day less than a mile from our house.

kids bike parades, BBQ'scarnivals, car shows, and fireworks

You can't beat watching fireworks from your front lawn!

We had family over for a barbecue and birthday party.

We definitely sorely missed Chase's parents and brothers for this celebration,

especially Quinn because he shares a birthday with America,

but we managed to have enough fun for all of us. 

Only one more 4th without them and then it will be a huge welcome home party in 2013!

27 wonderful things about Chase:

•  I called him while he was driving home from work the other day.  He answered but all I could hear was the music blasting and him singing along.  I waited over a minute for the song to end for him to be ready to talk. I didn't mind a bit, I love this about him.  
• His one big birthday wish was to redeem his Free B-day "Grand Slam" breakfast from Denny's. 
• Every morning he gets Beck from his crib, changes his diaper, gets him a bottle and brings him to me...just so I can get an extra 7 minutes of sleep.
• He calls me every day as he is getting in the car to come home. I answer and ask:  "Comin' on down?!"  He always answers with : "come come comenin!"
• He shoots hoops with a 16 month old every single day for as long as that baby wants.

•  He is the king at putting Beck down for bed.  Not only is he really good at it, but he relishes that special time with his son.
• When he gets home he gives me a big kiss first and then wrestles with Beck in the living room.
• The other day on his way home he called me to sing a song he made up about his beautiful wife with sunburned calfs
• He always tells me I'm beautiful, even when I look homeless.
• He always gets my dorky humor when other people look at me like "whaaaaaaa?"
• He works hard to provide for our family
• He is as excited to have more children as I am.
• Our spiritual and future goals are right in sync with one another.
• He makes me laugh on a daily basis
• He (usually) lets me cuddle with him at night even though our room is a million degrees
• He gets excited when I am excited.
• Last Saturday he spent 5+ hours working with me to get the house all spiffy for his b-day party.  Afterwards he said he liked it.
• He still treats Penny (our dog) like our first daughter
• He is loyal to me, his friends, family, job, country, and religion.
• NCAA football on the x-box brings him a lot of stress-relief and enjoyment
• For the first 3 years of marriage he insited that his vintage toy soldiers guard our bedroom windowseal.  He is still a kid at heart and it is one of the reasons he is such a great father.
• Chase is always striving to become the best man that he can be.
• He is as knowledgable and aware of Beck as I am. He makes the effort to know what Beck likes to eat, how he plays, he can translate his jibberish as well me, and never misses an opportunity to snuggle and play.
• He is my biggest fan and support and always tells me how proud I make him
• Chase doesn't require much to keep him happy.  As long as he isn't too hot, has some chips and salsa to snack on, and his family is near, he is a happy camper.

• The other day he picked up my blowdryer diffuser and said "honey, this would make a perfect olive bowl!"  He loves to make me laugh.
• He is my best friend, lover, and best dad to our baby!