last year of my 20's...

two weeks ago, i celebrated my 29th birthday. it was a little bittersweet, knowing that next year i will be turning 30. i know that's not old, it's just so weird to say. i feel like i've been in my 20's for so long! as i look back on my life, i am reminded that the most wonderful memories of my life have happened in my 20's...

may 3, 2003...becoming mrs. sarah hornacek.
april 2004...graduating from simpson college with a b.a. in youth ministry.
july 2005...moving to lincoln, california to plant a church.
january 3, 2006...giving birth to my beautiful kyri girl.
august 5, 2009...welcoming our precious kaden boy into this world.

i would say it's been a pretty amazing decade! there is still one more year and it would so awesome to add to the list "summer 2011...bought our very first house!" God really never ceases to amaze me with His gracious gifts for our family. there may be bumps in the road, but overall our family is beyond thankful for the life he has given us.

the weekend before my birthday, my mom drove up from chico to spend the weekend with us. we had been planning for over a month for her to come out. every year when i was younger, my mom would take me out on my birthday to lunch and to shop 'til we dropped! it was always so great to spend the day together. since it had been many years since spending an entire afternoon just the two of us, i made the plans for that to happen. it was a beautiful, sunny day....perfect for shopping at the folsom outlets. i got some new clothes and a new pair of walking shoes (much needed to replace my 8 year old pair). of course, we couldn't help ourselves and bought cute clothes for the kids too. so nice catching up with my mom and her recent life-changes. while she was here, kevin and i were able to have a date night. dinner and a movie...such a treat! we saw "the king's speech" which was fabulous!

we kept it simple this year on my birthday. kevin asked me if i wanted a party, but i thought we could just do it up on my next birthday! kevin did take the day off, which is always my most favorite thing. just to have him home. kyri had her preschool valentine's party so i took her to school and kev stayed home with buddy boy. kevin picked out just the right gifts for his girl...rachael ray muffin tin, super cool salad dressing mixer/bottle, new mustard yellow leather purse (one i picked out cause it's my new fave color!), and a camisole with a cardigan sweater from gap. that evening, we went out to dinner with the ernst family to...red robin of course! for those of you who have known me since my college days, you would know that i have gone to red robin on my birthday every year. so that's 11 birthdays now? yep. i always bring my free burger coupon too. this year i had to get a lettuce-wrap chicken burger, which just isn't the same as getting a whiskey river barbecue burger on a whole wheat bun. oh how i miss those! it was funny because as we were ordering our food, the loomis family showed up and so they joined us too! i think we were there for almost two hours, eating and hanging out. two things i love dearly.

i really do feel like the luckiest girl in the world. i have the most adorable, caring husband and two precious little loves. i couldn't ask for more.

helping mommy open her gifts.

at this stage of life, this is the best family shot you can get.

friends with their red robin balloons.

i always wanted to have a daughter.
she's more than i could have ever dreamed of.