29 For the Fourth Time!

That's right, I am 29. Again. It is invigorating to be 29 again. It is an age I have come to love; I may never leave it. I am an expert at being twenty-nine. I have had two children, quit a job I loved to stay home with my two kids, moved into a new home all while 29. It is so exciting!
I have received some great gifts for my birthday: Nicole and Cody came to Pappasitas and let me hold Maddox until my heart's content. They also got me my favorite brand of candle (available at Target) and a beach bag for our beach trip next month. Lisa and Myles got me some cool cosmetics from Origins, which I love! Molly and I had a blast putting on lipstick together today. And, my parents gave me money, with which I bought a 15 gallon lacebark elm tree for our backyard. (I am a tree freak. I love them! Seriously, if I could pick between a three-hundred dollar dress at Neiman's or another tree...that is right. I'd pick the tree.) Stacey lent us his truck so Mike could get it. Thanks, Pearsons! I have wanted a lacebark Elm tree for a long time. They are supposedly the perfect tree for urban/suburban areas. They grow extremely large, have a huge canopy, are moderately fast growing (25 inches a year), and their bark produces an intricate lace pattern. This, in addition to our two Cleveland pears (quick growing, although at maturity no where near the size of the lacebark elms) and our red oak, which Mike picked out in honor of his grandmother, who adored red oaks and put two in her front yard when she was like eighty! Anyway, when I was researching trees for our house, I stumbled across the lacebark elm, which I had seen at the zoo. I went to purchase one and found out a thirty gallon will cost you around 450 dollars! YIKES! So, when I found a 15 gallon at the Plant Shed for forty-five, I jumped on it!
Also for my birthday, Mike is getting lemon petit fors from Bluebonnet Bakery in Fort Worth, and he took me to the Harold's warehouse sale to update my wardrobe a bit! It has been a great birthday, with wonderful gifts.
To be truthful, though, I am most thankful for the gifts from our Heavenly Father, which are intangible: my health, a happy marriage, two happy, healthy children, an extended family that anyone would be jealous of, my faith in Jesus, a secure future in heaven, a church that Jack and Mollyhappily and willingly attend, a new parttime job doing what I love, Mike's job which, although busy, allows me time with Jack and Molly while they are little. These gifts, all originating with our Lord, are amazing. I am grateful. In addition to these gifts, I have been receiving a prodding from our Lord that states: The giver above the gifts. I will write about this soon, when I have had time for the idea to matriculate. In my head as I say my prayers, all I am hearing is the Giver above the Gifts. So, thank you Lord, as Molly Ann prays everynight, for You. Thank you God, for God, and for your Son, and your Spirit, the mouth and beginning of everything good in my life.