Birthday week...

From Valentine's to my birthday has always been fun for me.  My birthday is usually pretty close to President's Day and I love having a day off from school and work around my birthday.  Lucky me!!  Merril surprised me with a night in Springdale for my birthday.

Merril's Dad came and watched the kids so we could spend a night away.  We got there at dinner but didn't want to eat until later so we decided to go on a little hike by the river while it was still light.

It was a pleasant hike and just the right amount of exercise.  Merril has decided to do the St. George IronMan in May so he's always up for some exercise.

As we finished the hike, the sun was just setting and we went to check into our hotel.  Merril worked on a machine and traded it for a night at the Flanigan's Inn.  The Tuesday after President's Day was dead.  We had the whole town to ourselves.

The hotel had a bidet!  (Which we used, I might add.)

We ate dinner at the Whiptail Grill across the street and then went back to the hotel to sit in the hot tub.  Merril also looked up a batch of questions that are supposed to make you fall in love.  We're already in love but they started some interesting conversations.  Like, "If you could wake up tomorrow with any ability, what would it be?"  I chose to be fluent in every possible language.  Wouldn't that be great for traveling??

We went to bed and woke up on my birthday and I opened presents.  I got some art, pictured below, new speakers for the Tahoe and an external hard drive.  Then Merril went for a long bike ride and I went for a short run.  After getting back, I went to a store to grab a breakfast snack and then sat in bed and watched whatever I wanted.  (That's a rarity in the mornings at my house.)  Then Merril came back and we got ready and went out to brunch.

We decided to get a famous Springdale bumbleberry pie for 'birthday cake.'  Unfortunately, they didn't have any whole pies ready, just one that they'd sold a slice out of.  We bought it anyway.

I got some silver candles at the store because that's the color that Mikayla wanted.  She really wanted a silver set that said, "29 again" but I objected because I'm proud to be 36 and don't feel the need to be stuck in the past.  

Some people like big crowds for their birthday but I'm better with just my little family.

Pie is way better than cake.

This is the picture series that Merril gave me.  I'd liked something similar on Facebook and it popped up on his feed.  Naturally, he knew the person.  She runs the place he goes and gets protein shakes.  He traded an afternoon of singing at her place for the pictures.  Hee hee.  I think it's splendid and wonderful to see any time of day.

What a great birthday!