Dear Reader:

Last evening was a “biggie” …my family is doing something for me and my upcoming  “benchmark birthday” that I have wanted for a long long time. It is one of those gifts that will keep on giving forever…and always bring a smile to my face.

However, this gift was not an easy one to pull off…it meant everyone had to show up at the same time at a certain place on a certain day (or in our case evening.) No one could get sick at the last moment or have car problems or simply forget… or run into any other unexpected, last-minute life obstacle.

… Our chances of pulling this “gift” off last evening were up there with the famous quote from  Johnny Depp (Captain Jack Sparrow) in Pirates of the Caribbean (when everyone thought he was dead but he showed up again)…He described the strange phenomenon as  “Highly improbable but not impossible.” 

Barring any unforeseen incidents we were having a family picture taken by Sarah, Mollie’s talented friend, who is an amazing photographer. She needed to be…with five small children and four dogs…along with the adults. The picture was slated to be taken at 7:30 last evening, perfect light time as the sun began its slow descent above the Pitt Street Bridge Park.

I must confess the timing had made me slightly nervous…we didn’t have much time to play around before it got dark …hoping nothing would happen.

*10:00 p.m. Important Update..Upon reflection (I am now back home) the timing should have made me nervous because I was the culprit who almost blew the photo session! I rode over to the Pitt Street Bridge park with John, Mandy, Eva Cate and Jakie. We were the first ones there…nice and early.

While we were waiting on the others…John took some snapshots of the children and me….this picture of me smiling with Eva Cate and Jake was the last smile for awhile.

I have not had one stomach issue since my chemo medication was lowered last Monday….over a week ago…but Murphy’s Law hit…there was no public restroom at the park but thank goodness Tommy and Kaitlyn drove up at that time…I jumped in Tommy’s car because they live the closest.

Made it…the night was saved…but we were running close to the sinking sun…still we got the pictures taken.  Am so excited about the revealing of the upcoming professional photos….Sarah is amazing…calm, cool, and efficient!

So until tomorrow…Thank you family from the bottom of my heart for the extra effort it took everyone to make this birthday wish come true. I will never forget it. Love you all so much! And a special thank you Sarah for your professionalism and calm demeanor.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Love this photo John took while waiting on my return…God was definitely there last night to make sure everything everybody sacrificed to get this family photo session done for me paid off!