brian bday- 10/20

for brian's birthday weekend, we went to a marriage retreat at squaw valley in lake tahoe- and it was amazing! the location, accommodations, seminars and weather- it was all perfect!

we arrived on friday afternoon and had 2 sessions that evening- then dinner on our own. for dinner- we found a wine bar-

saturday morning i woke up too early- but didn't mind since i had a good book, fireplace in our suite and watched a beautiful sunrise come up over the mountains from our livingroom-

saturday was brian's birthday and he was SO thrilled to be in tahoe!

at noon, we were released to go on "date day/night"and i couldnt wait to give brian his present(s)! i stink at gifts for him usually- so this year i really wanted to do something wonderful- and i did! i secretly worked with sara to plan a boys weekend for brian and chris to go away together in January- for golfing, to run a 1/2 marathon and then spend super bowl sunday together- the 4th year in a row- in sedona, arizona!

i put clues in each bag, with the date-

imagine his surprise when he opened the first bag and found a toy airplane and a map to sedona, az! then the second bag was a golf ball and a picture of chris leadbetter! he was thrilled with the gift and i know they are going to have a BLAST when they go!

so for brian's birthday, he wanted to spend it riding the bike trails along the river- with me... okay.

here's proof-

and more proof-

 the ride was actually amazing! the weather was perfect and so was the scenery-

 we stopped at a restaurant right on the river for a great lunch-

 saturday night we also had a fabulous dinner out, then sunday we headed home after a couple hours at the marriage seminar again. we both left feeling refreshed- both emotionally and physically!

we stopped at a place called "apple hill" on our way home- which is an area in the mountains of apple farm after apple farm after apple farm! they all have something to offer- from pick your own apples, to craft fairs, to cider and donuts. plus- apple pies! brian chose to take home a sour cream apple pie with cider sauce for his birthday cake!

we came home to some happy kids and told my mom she was promptly off duty!!