I loved him then when we were 17 and 16. I love him now that we are 39 and 40. I will love him when we are 80 and our reflections in the mirror have vanished from what we use to see. I can't imagine life without Nathan in it. He makes my days better. He makes me laugh. We just work. We think the same things at the same time. We survive the days and nights of parenting 4 children. We love US. When I think about growing old with Nate... it gives me peace & makes me feel secure and hopeful for all that's to come for us.
Turning 40 is a big deal? Ha! People certainly go all out for the big 4-0! But for this 40 year old... bigger isn't better. More isn't meaningful. Expensive isn't extravagant. I know him. I have been with him for almost 23 years. It is still just as wonderful as when it began. But in a sense.. richer. Life for us is what we have around us. The people in our lives that make our days have meaning. It's about at the end of the day, being content where we are. Not striving to compare or have more. Everything we could ever have wanted is right in front of us. It's easy to feel joy when you look around at our lives... because God is all in them. With Him... life will be good. We will always have enough. We will celebrate life. We will celebrate birthdays. We will celebrate this 40 year old man that I love and am sooo thankful to have in our lives. Happy Birthday to my Nathan.
I don't think there is a cuter little boy out there.
Growing up
Mr. Big Shot Baseball Player
Awkward photo that he hates! Makes me laugh so much! We all have these pics!
#19 was MY Fella
Had that long hair our senior year of high school
We were 17 and he had just had shoulder surgery. We look like babies.
Not a clear pic because it's a picture of a picture. I love this pic of the two amazing parents that have such influence in who Nathan is. They are my family too and I love them so much!
When you have been together since you were 17, it's crazy when you reach these milestones. We have celebrated A LOT of birthdays between he and I and now our 4 children. I love birthdays and celebrating with our family.
It wasn't hard to think of only 40 reasons why I love this man. It was hard to choose which ones to put on this gift.
The kids always participating in fun stuff for Daddy. Old man glasses this year!
You have to Stay Silly when you turn 40
Every MAN needs a smoker to smoke some meat! We have heard great things about these electric smokers. We shall see how much we use this. So far it's been AWESOME!
A Very Special night with Very Special Friends to celebrate Nathan
This looks like it could be trouble
Appetizers yum yum
Such a special dinner at The Lonesome Dove in Fort Worth with dear friends. We got to sit in the wine cellar downstairs & basically had it all to ourselves which made things so nice for us getting to talk and visit. When you are the wife to a husband like Nathan, you want so badly to make him feel celebrated and special. Sometimes the bigger party isn't always better. We decided to keep things very small but sweet. It couldn't have been any more perfect. All the planning and details on my end were made perfect by the presence of these special people. By the special words they all decided to share about Nathan. Nathan stories & just lots of memories of how all our families started out when our kids were 5! Now they are all going to be teenagers this year. CRAZY!
Sometimes life can get crazy with our kids going this or that direction. I am so thankful for times that we can stop everything and come together to celebrate one another, to celebrate life. Good times and wonderful memories!!!
Our waiter loved us so much! He was so nice! Brought us a little toast at the end of our night just because he thought we were awesome! LOL! So we had to get a pic with him in it.
Late night... piano bar... birthday boy is getting called out for not clapping. So funny!
Yes I had to let them know it was his 40th so he could be embarrassed and sung about
elevator ride in our hotel
You know you live in Texas when you can find horse and carriage rides at 1:30 in the morning downtown Fort Worth
What a wonderful night! So thankful and so happy to celebrate my Nate!
All the pictures from everyone's dessert on this hat makes a cute pic of a handsome 40 year old.
This is the pic that has resurfaced over the years and been retexted and laughed over. With friends at a country concert and I don't know how someone got this photo of Nate... but it's the best!
Gatlinburg Tennessee 2001
Me and Nate had our picture done when we were 23 and just got engaged. We look like BABIES. Thought it would be a fun time and neat keepsake for his 40th to remember our night.
This was too fun!!!!
The birthday boy and his buddies! Us girls felt like we really were living back in that era when the ladies were dressing us. They pulled our corsets so tight. We literally couldn't breathe. So much fun though! Happy Birthday to Nathan!
