MM ~ Chet's 35th!

This Saturday, we celebrated Chet Lee's 35th birthday!!

Quick pause for a shoutout to Chet Lee and Jeffrey Edward, aka JEM and Chettles, aka my best guy friends and faithful blog readers - yay! lol  This "Mockey and the Boys" collage (Jeff's phrase) represents over 13 years of fun memories, and two friendships for which I'm extremely grateful!!

*New goal = take one with Chet in the middle. lol  How has that never happened!?

Anthropologie mug Christmas gift December 2011, Tate's 1st birthday February 2019, Shane's birthday dinner April 2020, Friendsgiving 2022, Ellie's birth-day February 2019, Vegas slot machines July 2010, Tate's party February 2023, My Moving Party April 2022, Wilsons party July 4 2023, VCGO One Republic Mandalay Bay Beach concert July 2010, One Republic Tulsa concert September 2014, Disney World October 2015, Chet's birthday party July 2023, Andolini's dinner March 2015, Moss fam NYE party December 2022, Vegas flag pic July 2010 - FUN!

Okay, back to the party... fun birthday banner by Karli!

While I was drying off after swimming, I looked across the yard to see Jeff swinging on their backyard swing! lol  Parker was enjoying it here, and Jeff jumped in when he saw I was taking a picture! =)

This was early on... by the end of the swim day, there were 12 kids in the pool, one baby that stayed out, and lots of parents in and out of the water.  Mass chaos and fun times watching them all play together!!  ...I'm sad I didn't force a group photo this time, but for the sake of a good record, this party crowd included the Huffman family (Chet's neighbors with 3 kids), the Myers fam (with Sophia), the Youngs (with Zealand), Jeffrey (with Ellie - Kelly wasn't feeling well), Steve (with Kate - Sarah was working), Rachel (with Harvey and Heidi - Mark was on a business trip), the Wilsons (with Lincoln and Finn), the hosting Wilsons (with Tate and Parker), the Weatherfords, Teresa, and myself!!

We missed Kelly and baby Henry (5 months old that day)... but it was fun to see Jeffrey and Ellie Faye!

Zealand had been trying hard to talk Kyle into sitting down with him at the little red kids' table, but Kyle was telling him he was too big for it and that this section was just for kids... moments later, Jeff came in and sat right down at the Frozen table to play with Ellie, and Kyle and I both cracked up! =)  

Karli ordered two cakes from Nana Rose's Italian Bakery... an Italian cream cake (with the tall candles) and a Cannoli cake (with the cannolis on top, in case you couldn't crack that code). lol

Parker was excited for the cake! =)  (Me too!)  ...I got to talk with Melissa and Teresa more than usual this party (Karli's mom and Chet's mom), and I loved that!!

And Tate was excited for the cake, as well!  (I had a sampler platter, and both flavors were good!!)

This was just before Jeff had to leave...then we grabbed the selfie at the top of this post!  His Wynn hat (his favorite Vegas hotel) makes me happy!

We went outside to look for the baby bunny... eventually, we saw two cute bunnies, but that first trip was a bust.  While we were looking for them, Parker came over and asked me to hold her so she could play with my necklace, and she was quick to say cheese and pose it up with me for a picture!  Love her. ❤

Chet's neighbor also has a mid-July birthday that they had celebrated outside last week.  Halfway through the pool party, they tossed this gold birthday banner over the fence, and we all clapped for it while Steve held up a thumbs up above the fence! lolol  It was a very cute moment I wanted to remember, and I'm glad insisted on this final pic just before I left!

Fun Fact:  Exactly six years earlier was The Mercantile Reveal (HERE) birthday party... the first of many pregnancy announcements for the ever-growing Tulsa friend group! =)

Deep thoughts side note:  In the midst of being genuinely happy for them, I remember feeling a selfish internal fear and worry on that day that the Wilsons having kids would mean a dramatic step backward in our friendship, the beginning of the end, so to speak... to be very clear six years down the road, it wasn't.  I've felt the same needless anxiety with various engagement and birth announcements... and because the enemy loves a pattern, I'm having the same (but far more intense) irrational anxiety as I think now about what it will look like for all my friendships when I have a child of my own, imagining unparalleled loneliness and missing support that goes against everything I know about the people who care about me.  But guess what?  God is faithful, and we get a freaking choice!  The relationships that fall apart do so because people choose to narrow their focus and narrow their circle, and maybe that's best for them in certain seasons.  But my close friend group cares deeply about meaningful relationships, so I know and love all of my friends' children, and they will know and love my child (or children), and if I stay openhearted there, life will grow and be more abundant and full and connected, not less!  Because I care about meaningful relationships too - I have never been apathetic or indifferent about that.  So a child of my own will enrich life, and I will build solid friendships into our lives intentionally, and on hard days God will always be with me, so I can calm my heart down and trust God and my friends and rest in that (and take it day by day rather than thinking too far ahead)!!!  We all make time for what is important to us, and ironically, my friends and cousins with growing families have actually prioritized friendships with me more than my single friends and family members in this season (and vice versa), and it's rich and beautiful and I am incredibly grateful for it, and I fully plan to continue that as life moves forward!  So I'm letting go of that irrational fear today and choosing faith, hope, and love instead! ❤