For Jane... and the girls!

When our bestie from Boston visits during her birthday week, we ladies rally!

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The guest of honor requested uniquely "Utah-fare"

and La Jolla Groves never disappoints...

Every dish is de-lish!

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(Shannon, Susan, Jane, Becky, Caryn {who apparently did not get the stripes memo!}, Summer with Baby Graham & Me)

Since movie picks were a bit on the scarce side, we opted for pedis instead!

(They sort-of turned out to be "mini-pedis", really,

and only for just half of us...

but the evening was really just about the company, anyways!)

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(Me, Caryn, Becky, Shannon, Daphne, Jane, Susan, Summer & Lil' Graham Cracker)

And please forgive me,

(maybe I'm feeling overly-sentimental..?)

but I just can't help saying

as I look at these ladies, I count myself blessed to be amongst them...

I see mothers... daughters... sisters... friends...

balancing so many things and doing so much good in our circles of influence,

no matter the size...

whether relatively small, or literally global in our reach.

I see creative energy that has no bounds.

Boxless.

Ever changing.

Unintimidated and unabashed.

Talent. Tenacity. Ambition.

I see true beauty, both inside and out.

We are loyal and kind.

We love fiercely...

Passionately.

Laugh.

(A lot!)

And listen.

Compassionately.

We have suffered unspeakable, unimaginable loss.

Both individually, and even collectively.

Have struggled and overcome.

Have stumbled. Have risen. And continue to press forward.

And to thrive.

I see strength.

Raw, undeterrable discipline.

With grace. And unassuming poise.

I am amazed at breadth of experience we embody.

Such a spectrum...

Each our own heartaches. Disappointments.

And yet... Inconceivable triumphs.

And through it all, we smile,

Warmly. Genuinely.

With gratitude.

Committed to ensuring that the best is yet to come!

Oh, how grateful I am for each one of you, girlies!

How very grateful indeed!

My friends.

I don't see you all often enough, but oh how dear you are to me!

Only for Jane...

Only for our dear and beloved friend, Jane...

could I talk my husband into basically abandoning our beloved boys for over half a day...

ignoring the freshly powder-laden mountain, softly beckoning...

braving the snowy roads...

and driving "all the way" up to Salt Lake for a Movie Marathon,

not to mention "strange" exotic food and entertainment.

Trust me...

My man had to be well-bribed!

(Sitting through TWO movies in a day

and the uncertainty of dinner at a new, somewhat questionable-sounding restaurant

is NOT his forte!

He'd much rather have chosen an afternoon of skiing!)

But alas, he let me win this one...

And off we went.

While everyone else in our group saw "The Tourist",

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(which we saw and I LOVED a few weeks ago)

we opted to meet Danny and Angi for "Country Strong"

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which I thought was great, and Matt thought was... well, grueling.

In my defense I make 4 points.

First, I do love Gwyneth.

I just do.

Second, she made me want to be a Kelly Canter fan.

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Really.

She was darling.

How could you not love her rockin' those leather jeans in this scene

with that eat-him-up cute little Travis?

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Third, I found myself, against my better judgement, really wanting

her to pull her mess-of-a-life together and get well...

(Which must mean she did a very believable job of being a mess in the first place, right?)

And lastly...

I am almost ashamed to admit how much I LOVED that gold dress from the Dallas Concert...

Wow.

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A-MAZ-ing...

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I could totally wear it at the kitchen sink doing dishes, right?

Or while I fold laundry?

{Sigh}

I guess it is best that my life holds no event worthy of me ever wearing such a gown.

Temptation gone.

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But on to dinner...

To try something different, Dusty chose Cedars of Lebanon,

which turned out to be a cozy little place with great ambiance,

fun, not-your-ordinary-everyday entertainment

and

INCREDIBLE food!

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Here are half of us...

Our party of 13 included the Blanchards, Us, Rhodes, Taylors, Birchalls,

Danny & Angi and Becky.

Who knew we'd be fans of Lebanese?

But yum!

It makes my mouth water and my tummy rumble just remembering it!

We will definitely make a return visit!

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We also learned some very valuable life lessons...

Like...

Always wait to tip the belly-dancer until the music tempo slows...

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And never accept an invitation to share a hookah

with the aging gentleman at the next table over.

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(Seriously, Angi... what were you thinking?)

And lastly, that 35 can look amazing if you welcome it and accept it with grace.

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So Happy Birthday, again, Janey!

We loved sharing it with you!

(And please forgive me for swiping these pics off your blog...)

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Our evening concluded with full bellies,

grateful that only the birthday girl had to participate in the belly-dancing spectacle,

a darling birthday cake

(Way to go, Dusty!)

and then off to another movie.

The late show was this little number...

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which I still can not ever remember the name of

and was surprised not to love.

I thought it was just... ok...

But interestingly enough, Matty actually liked it better than the first!

Ha!

I guess we're keeping things even, at least!

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So chalk up another super fun evening, friends.

Great company!

My belly still hurts from laughing so hard!

Happy, Happy Birthday, Cheryl Dear...

One of my favorite people in all the world had her Birthday last week...

We neighbor girls finally found a night when we could take her out to celebrate for a belated Birthday Dinner.

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PF Changs... always a treat!

And despite our onery waiter (seriously, sooooo rude!), we managed to have a fun Girl's Night out!

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So Happy, Birthday Cheryl!

You know I love you to pieces... you are truly one one of the most sincere and genuine people I know. Such a wonderful friend to everyone.

I am blessed to have your friendship and influence in my life. I can always count on you!

...Not to mention, you $ave me thousands in therapy!

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AND you love treats as much as me!

(Yeah... it's all about that Great Wall of Chocolate! Mmmm!)

Ready, Set-ty, Spa-GHETTI!

As Staker Family Tradition dictates, we had the Birthday Boy's favorite Dinner...

Daynen will really eat anything, but he loves Spaghetti!

I'm not a fan, so I don't make it often, but my big boys couldn't have been happier!

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Trev perfected his "twirling" skills...

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And after a long day swimming, Kade really packed it in!

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Dayne was just thrilled that he was allowed to feed himself... that's twice in one day!

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...Must be his Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Little Man! We are so glad it was a fun one for you!