He's driving and striving and hugging the turns

Well I tried to talk Darren into the good old classic Chuck-E-Cheese for his birthday this year but those dancing singing animals still freak him out, so we opted for this place.....

We invited a bunch of friends to join us for dinner and a night at the track. Dinner was fantastic and the track was, lets just say a thousand times better than any Chuck-E-Cheese ride. It was 14 laps on an indoor track in a very fast go kart, he (or she) with the fastest lap wins. The girls all did a race together and the guys did one together, then a few of us went out for a second race, one was just not enough. It was so much fun and if you've never been to one of these places I highly recommend it. I think a few of the guys are already planning a day long "learn to drive your go kart" class, and then of course another trip to the track. (and yes, I wanna go to!)

So here is the group, minus a few who had to leave after dinner......

The track and a few of our contestants....
I think this is Kenny, but its all a bit of a blur....(although this was the clearest picture)

And this is for sure me, you want to know how you can tell? Its my "signature" thumbs up. 

40 is the new 30

For Darren's 40th birthday I stole Jamie's idea and came up with 40 things (among thousands)

I love about Darren. Here they are (in no particular order).

1. He is clean (I promise they are in no particular order)

2. He is always willing to help

3. He loves his Wife and kids (if there were an order this would be #1)

4. He is very supportive

5. He honors his Priesthood

6. He loves to be social

7. He will eat whatever I make for him (even if it takes 10 drinks to wash it down)

8. He will eat Ramen and Mac & Cheese (see #7)

9. He loves to do anything if its with his family

10. With the exception being cars, he can fix anything

11. He loves to play just about any sport, he says he better at some than others, I think he's being modest

12. He loves to wrestle with his boys, and they love it just as much.

13. He is a sucker for his girls, and we love that too.

14. He is quite possibly the smartest person I know.

15. He is incredibly good at his job, I worked with him a while back so I know first hand.

16. He is also incredibly good at his calling, probably the reason he's been doing it so long.

17. He would do anything for anyone, just ask.

18. He loves his parents, its always his idea to stop over for a quick visit.

19. He also loves his siblings, it is so important for him to visit them as often as possible too.

20. He is the king of useless trivia and facts. (but its great at parties)

21. He will always call it exactly how he sees it, which is really great for clothes shopping.

22. He is not easily offended, something I'm trying to learn.

23. He is a fantastic teacher, and knows how to explain it so it just makes sense.

24. He is incredibly insightful. He is great to go to with any question, he'll know just what to say.

25. He loves to have fun and joke around but,

26. He knows when its time to take things seriously.

27. He is very forgiving, which comes in handy for all my faults.

28. He is also very understanding.

29. I love how involved he is in my life and our kids lives.

30. And, He is not only involved, but hands on. 

31. He will rock- paper- scissors me for a diaper change, and be a good sport if he loses.

32. He is not in the least bit shy, and loves to meet new people.

33. He is very confident, but at the same time...

34. He is also humble.

35. He knows what he likes, but.... 

36. He is always up for new things. 

37. He is very spiritually minded and those things always come so easy to him.

38. He is responsible which again is handy because a lot of the time I am not.

39. He is so darn cute, and sweet, and handsome, and fun, and good looking, and amazing, and hot, and incredible, and gorgeous....well you get the point. 

40. He is a million other things and reasons why I love him, but there are still more birthdays to celebrate so we can't give them all away now. 

Happy Birthday Darren, I love you so much and am so thankful for you in my life, you are such a blessing to me, and more than I deserve. Thank you for being the most amazing husband, father and friend anyone could ever imagine, you are the greatest. I want you to have the best 40th birthday ever, so.......................................Let's go car shopping! 

"You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose...

But you can't pick your friends nose."

Rod Amussen

Ive always tried to live by my dad's inspiring words of wisdom, and look how well its paid off. I have some of the greatest friends in the world. When we get together we always have the best time, even at 2 a.m. Our "girls nights out" seem to be getting later and later but all the more fun every time, just as long as there aren't too many per week, we are none of us 18 any longer. This was our movie night for Kellee's birthday. I can't recommend the movie we saw, but the company was worth it. 

This is book club night, and yes we did talk a little about the book before we pulled out the movie, and all the yummy treats. Thanks Kim! 
Kellee and I at another "girls day out" and no she is not getting fresh but I was about to fall and she was saving me, Thanks Kellee. 
I am so lucky for all the friends in my life. I wish I had pictures of all of them, my friends from the wards we've been in, my fabulous basketball friends, they are all the best. How lucky am I?

Early Mothers Day