So far, this is the oldest I've ever been.

   I turned thirty this year. It's a pretty big deal to enter a new decade for only the third time in your life. I always wonder why people make such a big deal over getting older, but Danny says it's not getting older they mind. It's looking older. Well, I'm not quite that vain, and I say better to get old than die young! I have to say, I love being thirty! I was a little afraid of it. So many people say things about getting older. "Oh, just wait until you're thirty. Then you will..." blah blah blah. They said the same thing about getting married. And do you know what? They're wrong! So, in honor of all my new laugh lines and wrinkles, here are a few things I like about getting older. (And just to keep it from being too boring, interspersed are some more pictures Meggie took of our family. We are a verry challenging family to get good pics of, since half the time we are just trying to get the kids to hold still! Thank you Megan for helping us to get some good pictures. It's a miracle!!)

(Alex kills me in this one and another one. He just looks like he is such an angel and all perfection. But we know what he was doing while we were trying to take pictures. Oh yes, we know. )

1. You are so much more comfortable with yourself. I feel like I know myself better than ever and can trust myself. In certain areas. I've had time to see how I react to different things and in different settings, and though I will always be a work in progress, I feel okay about who I am.

2. I'm not intimidated by people. I never feel nervous or worry about what they will think. Just imagine what I will be like when I'm 50! I'll probably just walk around naked and tell people to get over it.

(I loove the pics she got of Tristan. I just wish, oh wish, that we had gotten some individuals of Lainey that day, too! )

3. I've been married for 11 years now, and I love it! I was always so afraid of what it would be like when you are in the midst of raising your kids and your crazy lives, and I can easily say, this is the most fun we have had so far! We've loved every different part of our lives together, but we just love having these crazy kids and all the funny things they do and say. We love having kids old enough to talk to and do fun things with and to teach funny things to. And we know each other so much better. We rarely disagree, and when we do we get over it quickly. We're still sometimes grumpy or tired, but now we know that's what it is. When you are newly married every time something weird happens, you think, "Oh no! We're never going to be happy together!" I don't worry about that now.

4. I feel more confident as a parent. I don't second guess everything I do and worry that I am warping my children. Now I know that I am warping them, and I take pleasure in it! Haha, only joking. I know they are pretty much who they are, and I'm okay with that. I can't change who they intrinsically are, for better or worse.  And we have developed a sense of family identity, who we are as a family together. We are happy, outgoing, crazy, willing to let the house get messy for some fun or to do things together, and find ourselves to be the best things to laugh at.

5. It just feels nice to have thirty years under my belt, and still be myself. When I was little I would worry that the grown-up me would be totally different from who I was then. But I'm pretty much the same person.

6. I can still do the splits. And lots of other weird stuff. I still hang upside-down on the monkey bars and read my books in the tree sometimes and can still do a backbend and stand up out of it. I'm pretty proud of that.

Ummm.. there are lots of other things I like about getting older, but a lot of it is just about becoming comfortable with who I am and accepting myself, which in turn allows me to accept others as they are.  I don't mean this post to sound like I am bragging on myself, I just thought it was worth mentioning that so far, getting older is a-okay with me. I thought that might be reassuring to someone out there. Then again, two of the four people who read this are older than me, so I guess you don't need to be told!!
 
  On a last note, when I turned 30 Danny gave me a big kiss and said, "I've never kissed a thirty year-old before." I said, "I have. It's not that great." Hehehe.....

This is the other picture where Alex looks like he is pure angel. Do you see that sweet face?! No one else looks that great, but he looks like he should have a halo around his head.