To be 21 again!

Well, I am finally posting again after 13 days! I get so impatient waiting for others to post when I am following their blogs, so I guess I'm lucky that I have so few followers. HAAA! That's for you, Ryan! Lots going on since my last post. This past weekend was the 21st birthday of my youngest son, Robert. He decided several months ago that this auspicious occasion would be marked by road-tripping with some of his friends to Las Vegas. Is this not the dream of every person leading up to that important birthday? Well, he actually DID it! I have to say that I was quite impressed at his ability to save money for the past few months in anticipation of his trip. He received mostly money for birthday gifts, but saved enough to cover the entire venture. He went with 4 of his friends from the University and had the extra special bonus of his BF from elementary school, Josh Bruner, flying in from his new home in Arkansas to join the festivities. While we were happy and excited for him getting the opportunity to live the "turning 21 dream", we also felt a bit blue at missing out on such a special day. Never let it be said that we don't make our presence known to our kids, possibly to their dismay at times. We told Robert that we wanted to pay for a dinner on his actual birthday and made reservations at a restaurant of his choosing (Planet Hollywood). What he didn't know was that his brother Ryan flew in from Dallas, his step-dad Mike flew in from Albuquerque and his brother Jeremy and sister-in-law Stephanie drove in with me from the Wood. It was enough to make me jump out of my skin as we waited for his arrival at the restaurant on the big night. When he and his friends were being seated, we all rushed in to surprise him. He was totally blown away and we could watch as it dawned on him that we were ALL there. He is such a sweet young man and went out of his way to tell us over and over that this little surprise made his birthday. As the mom of this group, I was so touched and humbled at the way my kids were so willing and excited to do what had to be done to make their brother's birthday so memorable. To say we had fun together would be to sell it very short of the reality-we had a ball! My middle son, Ryan (he hates it when I add "the aerospace/mechanical engineer") became fast friends with all of Rob's posse. As he puts it , he "is the party" anywhere he goes. While Robert was actually in Vegas for 3 nights, the trip was a quick one for the rest of our family, with all of us leaving Vegas the next afternoon. My camera did its normal act and I don't have photos yet. My sweet Daughter-In-Law took bunches and I will post them as soon as I get them.