I must preface this blog entry by saying that Rob Fipps and Jamin Jantz must be the BEST husbands ever!!! A month ago, Jamin (the husband of one of my dearest friends, Melissa), contacted Rob and they put together a super surprise birthday plan for me and Mel. Mel and I have birthdays that are only about a week and a half apart, so the guys went in on a plane ticket for Mel to fly up here to visit. Jamin took Mel out to eat for her birthday, and gave her a plane ticket - she was in shock when she realized that it was a ticket to come to Wisconsin for the weekend. Then, they still didn't tell me...Rob told me that I was needed to go pick up our camp director's wife from the airport. I went to Green Bay, and waited for Terry's flight to come in. Now, it would have been really cool if Mel had walked into the baggage claim like the guys had planned, but unfortunately, she got stuck in Chicago for the night!!! Rob called me and told me on the phone that I was really going to pick up Mel, but that I would have to go back in the morning to get her. Well, her flight finally came in early Friday morning, so we had all weekend to spend together!! It was so great having her here to see where I live, etc. She left on Monday afternoon. We had so much fun just hanging out, and she helped me a ton with Maggie's birthday party. It was so great to have one of my best friends up here for my birthday. Thank you so much Jamin for cooking up this plan, and to Rob for being a co-conspirator in this super-wonderful birthday surprise!!! Definitely one of the best birthdays ever!!!

The guests: Caileigh Wood, Madeline, Emma Belford, and Andrew Belford
Maggie enjoying her much requested Princess Cake. She kept begging me for one, so I found a picture on the internet, and tried to copy it!
Rob in Andrew's Knight Outfit...Rob tried to make our "boy" guest feel at home by taking him outside to ride on the four-wheeler with him!!
Enjoying our "tea party."

Maggie moved up into the 4s and 5s Sunday School class on Sunday. She is standing by her friend, Brandon Priest (she says she is going to marry him, but she did not want to stand by him to take this picture!!).
Madeline moved up to the 2s and 3s Sunday School class on Sunday.
Our Big Four Year Old!!

The girls were so excited to open presents, (yes, even Madeline got presents to open from the grandparents!!!) that they brought the presents right into our bed Saturday morning!! They got so many cute things - thank you so much to everyone who thought of Maggie on her birthday!!! I believe she got presents in the mail from 8 or 9 different people, and she had 7 or 8 messages on our answering machine from different people wishing her a happy birthday (this does not count grandparents!!) She was POPULAR, and loving it!! Thank you to everyone!

Friday night, we got to spend some time with some friends of ours that used to live at NBBC, Ken and Samantha Keith, but have since moved to Guam to help with a ministry there. It was sooooo good to see them again, and we were so thankful to be able to spend an evening with them. We have many hilarious memories with them including sharing a downtown MN hotel room together!!! Our friendship has now spanned almost 6 years, and while we are sad that they are so far away, it is so awesome to see them loving the ministry that God has put them in, and also to see the ways that He has prepared them for this specific ministry!! We love you guys!!! Long live Portillo's!!!!

We had a nice Spring day yesterday, so I took the girls outside for some pictures. Well, I thought, "It's so warm - it must be at least 60 degrees." I got in my car and the temperature was 43 degrees!!! I guess our bodies are getting too accustomed to this cold weather.