My hubby and my family and the Lord blessed me with such a special birthday week. I just had to share it with you all. So here are some pictures to tell the story…

First Chris kept the secret for MONTHS and then surprised me with a weekend trip to Nacogdoches, TX to Stag Leap – a place with peaceful, secluded, and oh so restful cottages in the woods. It was fabulous! The cottage was beautifully decorated with a cottage, country, Tuscan sort of look. It had little kitchen and a nice deck and a golf cart for riding around in the woods.

This is what it looked like on the inside:

Savannah wanted to drive the golf cart, but she’ll have to wait quite a few years. :)

My dear little family on the deck:

Secondly, on my birthday, I was taking a nap when I was startled awake by, of all people, my parents! They surprised me by coming a few days early for their weekend visit! It was a great way to wake up from a nap. :) That night, Dad treated us to Olive Garden, and then we came home and had a little party.

I had a pink and brown cake, and blew out the candles praying that my children would love the Lord all the days of their lives!

And, thank you dear friends for the gifts and all the notes you sent by phone, mail, email and facebook! I loved them all! Here’s a little collage of the gifts:

The Lord put the cherry on top with a good snow today! I guess you saw the previous post with that picture, but just so you can see my house, here’s a picture of our home in the snow and a funny one of Savannah all bundled up in next winter’s coat:

This has been a wonderful birthday! Is it just me, or do they keep getting better every year? :)

I’ll end with a thought… You all know that the Lord is preparing a mansion for us in heaven. YAY! Well, do we each get our own mansion or is there one big one for everybody? I always thought there was one for each believer. But, I can’t imagine living in a big mansion for eternity without family living in it with me. Can you? I mean, who wants a big house just to themselves anyway? So, I’m beginning to hope that the mansions of heaven are not in any way like the ones here on earth, but rather are so big that they encompass our family in Christ living together in perfect love and worship to God… I think that would be great. Oh, and I wouldn’t mind sharing a room either. :)