Fall and Birthdays!

I love fall, it's my favorite time of year. The air turns crisp and cool, and you get to wear sweaters, and the leaves turn such beautiful colors. The holiday season is just beginning, and you start to feel that holiday excitement! That's probably why I was born in October. :-)

Jake has been such a sweetheart these last few weeks. Birthdays are really big in my family. We get woken up early by our family members belting out "Happy birthday," and open the presents they present to us. Then we get a special breakfast of our choice, and the whole day is dedicated to you. We get to choose the place we want to go out to dinner that night, then we eat cake and ice cream to end the day. It's the perfect way to celebrate coming into the world once a year, and my whole family loves it. Jake got to witness my brother and mom's birthdays while we were engaged, and my dad wisely advised him that "the women in this family expect big things for birthdays, and if you are smart, you'll make it the best day of Shannon's life."

A week or so before my birthday, I thought it would be a great service to Jake to let him know exactly how I expected my birthday to play out. I've learned early you can't expect your spouse to know what you want if you don't tell them. I let Jake know I expected him to wake me up early and sing me "Happy birthday," as well as give me a present, arrange dinner with my family, call some of my close friends and invite them over for cake and ice cream, and surprise me with anything else he wanted throughout the day. I definitely wasn't disappointed.

He woke me up early, sang to me, and gave me a present (which I picked out, bought, and wrapped while teaching him how to wrap a present in a gift bag). It was exactly what I wanted! Jake and I went to our separate classes, and on the way home after my class, I saw a bunch of little blue sticky notes with cute messages all over our car windows. We were driving to my parent's house that afternoon, and he knew I would see them. It was so sweet. I wasn't expecting another surprise when I walked in the door of our apartment, and was astounded to see Jake had bought me flowers and chocolate covered peanuts (my favorite!), and arranged the pictures in our house on our table. I started bawling when I saw it. Jake had gone completely out of his way to surprise me, and I absolutely loved it! He also covered our door in little blue sticky notes with super cute messages, and wrote me a mushy card.

We drove down to my parent's house for the weekend, and went to Winger's for dinner. Afterwards we watched my sister's drill team dance, and then had cake and ice cream. It was the best birthday I've ever had. Jake was so sweet. I keep falling more and more in love with him. :-)

Jake had drill, and it was also conference weekend. I spent the weekend with my mom and sisters going to model homes and out to dinner Saturday night during Priesthood session. I loved every minute of spending time with them. I was sad Jake had to be at drill, but at least I had fun. My Grandma Griffiths came up to my parent's house Sunday afternoon and gave me the quilt she made for my wedding. It is so beautiful! I am so thankful to have grandmas who are so talented. Jake's Grandma Bailey also made us a quilt for our wedding. We are so lucky.

Jake and I had to leave Jake's Saturn at my parents house because he let the tires get so bald you could see the steel bearing on the front passenger tire. Men.

I love being married to Jake. He is so much fun and tries so hard to be a good husband. I couldn't have asked for a better man to spend eternity with.