Birthday #31

I had such a fun birthday weekend! A huge group of our old crew got together for a lake trip to Lake Pleasant. It sure brought back memories! We all had fun drinking and dancing on the boats...and when the sun went down, we headed over to the restaurant at the Marina for a hot meal (and boy, did we all need it!) After dinner, Tamara's boat and our boat headed out to a quiet little cove on the lake where the guys threw out lines in hopes of catching some catfish. No luck there...but it was such a beautiful and peaceful night under the stars.

Unfortunately, we were awoken at 4:30 the next morning by an emergency phone call from Jim's boss. Tragically, Jim's partner, Russ, had died in his sleep that night at the age of 36. It may have been heart failure due to medication he was taking because of cronic back pain following many surgeries. He has a stay-at-home wife and 2 small girls which makes this all the more tragic. We headed home a few hours later, and as you can imagine, today has been a very tough work day for Jim. I would imagine the funeral services will be at the end of this week. Please say a prayer for his family...as I've heard that his wife is not taking this well at all.

So...on a lighter note, despite the awful news, my birthday was better than I could've asked for. The kids sang Happy Birthday to me at home and helped me blow out candles on my white chocolate raspberry cake (yum) after spending the night with Nana (who spoiled them rotten). Here's some pictures from the weekend:

Me & Tamara...she's become such a good friend who also happens to be my, Jim's, and Hannah's dermatologist!
For some strange reason, Jim crawled into bed with Rachelle the next morning.??? LOL This is a picture of their big 'old platypus feet.
My good friend, Mo. She has 2 little ones at home too...so we really whooped it up together!
Rachelle and I...after swimming across the lake to get to this sandbar. We wanted a picture that looked like "we walked on water". :)

Tran and I...great buddy who was also celebrating his birthday. Happy Birthday you Asian hottie!


The newlywed, Dawn, and Olga...one of my back-in-the-day friends!
Here's Olga drinking from a coconut. Her hubby brought real coconuts on the boat and used the milk to mix with ice and vodka for an interesting concoction.

Scotty doing one of his famous back flips...he's insane!

Me, Olga, and Rachelle...gosh it's been a while!

Scotty: "Rachelle, tell it to someone who cares, okay?" lol

Randy and Rachelle came with us on our boat...they helped make my birthday so special and were super generous with gifts, and helping out with the boat and even buying dinner. Thanks guys!

Scott and Mo brought their boat which is big enough for a dance floor practically and has an AWESOME sound system!

Day #2...me and Rachelle

No, officer. I haven't had ANYTHING to drink! Notice the "birthday girl" badge on my hat..courtesy of Dawn and Tran. Thanks guys!