MY BABY DADDY

My husband is now the trendy and shiny new age of  40. 

Happy Birthday, Birthday BOY! 

Forty is the new thirty... 
Forty is fabulous...
Forty is plenty old and plenty young all the same...
Forty is just around the corner for me, so I better quit while I'm ahead.

Dean has been preparing to turn forty since he was twenty. 

To Dean, turning forty is a big deal. Forty is when middle age walks up and sucker punches you in the gut. 


Dean had BIG expectations for his fortieth.

The kids and I thought thought long and hard about a gift we could give to Dean.
Maybe an exotic vacation...?
How about a new boat...?
Or a 85 inch 3D TV...?

Nah, I said.

Lets throw him a surprise party instead!

. . . He'll love that!

And so we did. 

(Either he was really thrilled and excited for his surprise party...
                            or he is making mental notes of ways to make my life miserable)

We invited a bunch of family and friends
and lied through our teeth all week to keep Dean in the dark.

It worked. 

He genuinely acted surprised. 

"acted" is the operative word here.

I wish I could show you lots of great pictures and video of the party,

but I put Wade in charge of all the picture taking...

and let's just say Canyon does a better job taking pictures with his sticky hands on my cel-phone.

Ah well, you'll just have to trust that the party was top-notch, mind-blowing, unreal - 

(balloons and streamers) even Martha Stewart would've been like; "girlfriend, you got it goin on!"  

Wade was punished and sent to the corner for taking such awful pictures.

Earlier in the day, as we were setting up in the miserable heat, 

I made a deal with the higher ups that I would start being a decent person 

if only the weather wouldn't be so hot and humid. 

And just 2.5 seconds after we all yelled "surprise!" a dramatic wind/rain storm came blowing in and ripped through all the signs and decorations. 

That will show me.

We all retreated inside, and then it was the perfect opportunity to 

show everyone the movie that me and my minions had made for Dean. 

TRUST ME: You will want to watch this; If only to see River's reenactment of a younger me.

I claimed that no children were harmed during the making of this film, and that's true, 

but their lives were severely threatened. 

"...Brett and Wade, you'd better stand there and do this, 

or else I'm going to rattle your teeth till your shoes fall off!..." 

 

The movie was a labor of love that's for sure.
That sixteen minute video beats a new boat any day, right?
Dean was a good sport about it all. That's what I love about him.

Actually, you know what is so great about Dean?

Well, besides that he doesn't get mad at me for throwing him a surprise party...

and that he hides his disappointment about not getting a new TV...  

The real reason Dean is such a great guy is that he puts up with all my nonsense.

For instance; A few weeks ago, Dean and I were walking out of a restaurant on the busy Provo/Orem hill. Over the noise of the traffic, I heard the sound of a kitten meowing, then discovered that the meowing was coming from across the street, somewhere on the over-grown hillside. 

As we got in the car to leave, I couldn't help but worry about the distressed little kitten.

I suggested to Dean that we drive across the road over to the hill to see if we rescue the kitten. 

And of course, like any levelheaded husband, 

Dean gave me a "you must be outta yo mind-" look.  

So I in turn gave him my saddest, deepest, pleading kitten-like eyes and sure enough...within a few minutes we were parked along side the road, in the dark, meowing and walking up and down the sidewalk by the hill.

A few minutes after that...  

Dean was reluctantly climbing up over the wall, through a fence, scavenging around the the shrubs and trees (at my bidding) in his new boots, getting wet from the sprinklers until he located the scared little kitten. 

He found out the little guy was just fine and only meowing because he was getting wet from the sprinklers, and his momma had temporarily left him.

As I watched Dean scrape the mud from his boots, 

that's when I figured it out;

 the reason why I love Dean.

 He indulges me. 

He puts up with my projects, and even helps facilitate them. 

He puts up with Canyon's mullet, even though he has nearly taken scissors to it several times.

He poses non-stop for my endless picture taking.

And he indulges all the kids silliness too.

I'm not suggesting he's is the best dad out there, cause I know there are plenty of great ones around. I'm just saying he's the best dad for MY particular delinquents. 

 

 but most importantly...he sent me Africa. And I'll never, ever forget that.

That's why he's my baby-daddy.

Happy birthday Dean.