A Crane, a Train, and a Birthday

I'm 31 today. That used to sound old but my perspective has changed a bit over the years! I had a hard time thinking of things this year when asked what I would like for my birthday. The reason? I have everything I need, and much more. For most of my life my greatest wish was to be a wife and mama. The Lord has wonderfully fulfilled this desire and blessed me with a loving husband and wonderful children. What more could I want!
This morning Erik invited us to come to his work-site because they were bringing in a gigantic crane to move something. We packed some muffins, parked across the street, opened the van door and sat to watch the action. It was pretty exciting- a huge crane, seeing Daddy at work, and watching a train rumble by all in one morning! At one point this certainly wouldn't have been my first choice in how to spend my birthday morning, but today I wouldn't have had it any other way. My happiest moments are when my family is together, sharing life and making memories. Seeing Peregrine's excitement at watching the crane, and Alethea smile when she saw her Daddy, seeing my hard-working husband wave to us from across the street- those thing brought me great joy this morning. My life- and my joy- are wrapped up intricately in theirs. Now I understand why my Mom, when asked what she wants, always would say "I just want all my children to love each other." My family came over a few nights ago and had a celebration for me. Apart from my brothers being too far away to be here it was wonderful. The best moment though, for me, was watching Peregrine's face as he brought me my piece of key lime pie. His voice rang out with a loud "Happy Birthday dear Mama" and his face shone with happiness. Moments like those are the ones I'll remember for a long time. I am indeed blessed beyond anything I could have asked or imagined!
Here are a few pictures of the best gifts a Mama could ever want:

Peregrine Olive-fingers

Alethea the Blue-eyed Girl


My ever-lovin' husband and me!
(And no, we don't always dress like this.)