Happy Birthday to me!

Two years ago, I got the best present ever...Imogen was born a week before my birthday.  Poor girl, it is so close to Christmas and the New Year and my birthday, I am thinking we are going to have to do the 1/2 birthday celebation during July or something. (Poor girl, I should say poor daddy and mommy!)

Anyway, we had a great celebration for Imogen at our friends Neal and Dawn's house (a house with yard is a wonderful thing for an "intimate" party of 30 people. There is no way to express my thanks to them for allowing us to use their home for the festivities!) Imogen definitely got the concept of opening presents, not so much the concept of finishing the tearing of paper. I would love to share some of the more memorable moments (like the fishing game we created, her blowing out the candles on her cake, the overwhelming mound of presents she received, her totally asleep in her princess tiara and the duck, duck, goose game) but alas, I erased all the pictures from our camera! Can you believe that? What a horrible mom I am. So, that is all that you will hear about her birthday. She had a great time!

For my birthday weekend, we started with a wonderful dinner at Neal and Dawn's. Good times, good food and good beverages. Wonderful night. And Dawn rocks for making my fav, lemon bars for dessert. And for the whip cream that we all ended up spraying on everyone. You would think I was turning 2!

On actual birthday, the fam went back to Charmlee Wilderness Park for another go at the trails. Nich is doing a product shot for a LaNatura beauty products and we thought it would be a great idea to test some shots while hiking. Nich carried all his camera gear and I got the backpack with Imogen.(About equal in weight!)  It was another perfect day for some hikes. We took a different path and found some amazing locations for Nich. Unfortunately, he didn't bring a memory card for his camera (that should tell you how much sleep he got!) So, the photo shoot didn't happen but we did find a perfect place to renew our vows. Not that we are really into renewing our vows or anything, but Nich and I really want to make our wedding rings and this would be a perfect place to exchange them. So, here are a couple of shots taken with my little camera phone to show you more of the beauty of Charmlee.

Ridiculous tree and rocks on a bluff overlooking the pacific ocean.

Totally a scene out of Lord of the Rings or somewhere magical. Ring of stones surrounded by a ring of trees once again, overlooking the ocean. Breathtaking.

Not sure what the flowers are but they were beautiful. I can't wait to see this place during the spring with all the flowers going off.









Great day and a wonderful way to celebrate life. Thanks for all the birthday wishes and here's to an amazing year!