Rob's 35th birthweek!

You know how most people have a birthday? Well every year I tease Rob that he always ends up dragging out the celebrating until he ends up with a birthweek and this year is no different. Why break tradition right? So in honor of his 35th birthweek, this whole post will be dedicated to my big cookie; the love of my life; the father of my children (most of them anyway); the man who makes me laugh; washes dishes AND does laundry; the man who STILL tells me I am the most beautiful woman in the world EVEN when I have just rolled out of bed and SEEN the horror in the bathroom mirror.

The fact that he believes that is further proof of one of Rob’s best qualities: his fundamental belief that there is something beautiful that can be found in every aspect of life and in every stage of it. As I type this I betray his identity because he loves to portray himself as a cynic but underneath it all he is actually a romantic. His perpetual pessimism (yes Heidi; I still call him Eeyore) is merely a façade for his TRULY optimistic nature. (Who else but a true optimist could continue to believe season after season that THIS is the year the Cubs will take the series?!)

And so…without further ado; here are some highlights of the birthweek:

Friday the 8th (Rob’s actual birthday) we went out for wings at Native New Yorker with a few friends.

In this picture starting at left foreground: Beth Jarman (my BFF; Rob’s hairdresser; our kids’ future stepmother), behind Beth are Ryan and Rachel Olsen (Best neighbors EVER and two of our closest friends) across from them: Donna Lyons (Rob’s former co-worker and lifelong gal pal) and John Gay (Rob’s stalker). In the middle is the man himself: Rob. Next to him are Shannan and Monti Randall (a couple who were panhandling in the parking lot---we don’t believe in giving out cash because they would probably just buy drugs or alcohol with it.)


“Cheers!” This is a classic Rob dorky face! Isn’t he adorable? (BTW; That is Donna’s Corona in the foreground; not Rob's! He's drinking the Shirley Temple.)

More good times…Beth you are looking a little scared.



Saturday morning Rob had some “Dad time” with the kids in the pool. I wasn’t exactly strictly forbidden from coming but it was made clear to me by the kids that they were swimming with DAD! It was a big sacrifice for me but I stayed inside and spent some quality time of my own with the Sept. issue of Architectural Digest. It was rough but I managed. (Happy Birthday Tracie!)


Saturday afternoon we dropped the kids off at Grandma’s and picked up Rob’s birthday present from Mom and Dad Stewart---two tickets to the D.Backs game---and headed out to Chase Field.


Aside from the obvious fact that this game was the day after Rob’s birthday, the main reason for getting tickets to this particular game was for the fan giveaway. Our friend Jim Hamilton won the Fan Designed T-Shirt Contest sponsored by the Diamondbacks. This meant that his design was given out to the first 25,000 fans!
Here we got Jim to autograph his design for us. Rob assured him it would be on ebay by morning and that he'd give him a good deal if he wants it back.


Sunday evening we had dinner at Mom and Dad Stewart’s house with all of Rob’s favorites on the menu, followed by cake, candles and the song. This pretty much wrapped up the birthweek.



What is different about Rob in the last two pictures? He is clean shaven and there is a reason for that. Sunday morning he was called to be 2nd counselor in the Elder's Quorum* Presidency. So how is that for rounding out the birthweek?

*From wikipedia: An Elders Quorum is a local quorum organized in each ward, but presided over by a president with priesthood keys, who acts under the direction and authority of the local stake presidency, and under the direction of the presiding High Priest in the ward who is typically a Bishop. Each quorum consists of up to ninety-six Elders.