18 with 22 years of experience!

Turning 40 really doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me.  Probably because I'm not the one turning 40... not even close (sorry Jared).  He isn't thrilled with the whole "over the hill" thing, but I'm handling it much better than I did when he turned 30.  That felt so grown up when I was only 26.  I felt like Jared turning 30 meant he had to suddenly worry about his cholesterol and high blood pressure, I even convinced him to go and get a physical just to make sure he was healthy.  A few years later when I turned 30... I realized it was no big deal.  30 felt just the same as 29.  It's just a number, but being that this year was the big 4-0 that number means that we had an even bigger excuse to celebrate!

I invited some of our friends over for a 40th birthday bash Friday night.  We ate yummy food and played some fun games.  We told stories and laughed til our cheeks hurt.

We played a whole variety of "minute to win it" games; this one was probably my favorite to watch.  Jared and Jon had to pick up all of these bags using only their mouth.  Here they are stretching.

Ready, set, GO!

I love how DJ is laughing so hard.  It was pretty hilarious.

Here are a few of the other games ...

cereal box puzzle

knock over cups with air from a blown up balloon

empty a box of tissues with only one hand, one tissue at a time

stack 7 cakes on your head

We were quite loud cheering and laughing.  You can see my kids peeking down from the stairs behind Barb. They never came all the way down.  First we saw Austin's little face, and then a mirror, pretty soon there they all were.  

moving a cookie from their forehead to their mouth without using their hands

balance 6 dice on a spoon held in your mouth

unravel two spools of crepe paper with your arms

empty two boxes of tic tacs with your teeth

Proof that he cheated.
In his defense, both of us hit a point where they got jammed.

We had a great time laughing and finished off the night by sharing stories about Jared.  Everyone shared a favorite memory or first impression of Jared.  There were lots of fun stories and also several references to Mr. Incredible.  That will never get old.  

Sunday night we invited Jared's family over for dinner.

They are always so much fun to visit with.

Because we had had so much fun with the games on Friday, we decided to try some of them with our family.  It was still a lot of fun, but very different.

The adults didn't do this every time we had a mess with tissues or toilet paper.

Look at the pure joy on these kids faces.  I Love it!

The adults certainly didn't go after the spilled tic tacs.

Since Jared did such a great job on this game at his party, we had him do it again with his brother Mat.  It was just as funny.  Mat went after that bag with all he had, even fell and then resorted to using his dad's cane.

Jared is a wonderful husband, my best friend, and the greatest dad our children could possibly have.    We are all so lucky to have him in our lives.

Happy Birthday Jared!

We love you!