Jana Rae Turns 40!

August 2008

I new it would happen someday…and well it was bound to happen this year. 40 has always seemed old to me, but, for some reason it no longer seems old, in fact, it seems a little YOUNG, if I do say so myself.

Steve had been secretly planning a “surprise” 40th party for me with some of my good friends (one of my friends is an “official” event planner – so he had some serious help) for MONTHS. During the middle of August as our move from Ohio to Colorado was progressing, Steve felt he finally needed to inform me of my “surprise” 40th party that would take place on the 23rd of August in Utah… I had movers/packers and moving trucks lined up to pack and move us August 21 – 28th.

Hmmmm… how would all this work?

I told Steve it would simply NOT work out and thus he needed to cancel the party. I told him this was a busy period in our lives and reminded him that WE ARE MOVING…I can’t jet off to Utah for a silly 40th surprise party! He went on to inform me that all arrangements had been made, my flight was set, baby sitting arranged, and people were coming in from out of state so I needed to be there! FINE!

Well, it ended up being SOOOO amazing. Great work Steve!!! And Michelle, And Heidi!

We met our friends the Kenney’s and Kinnears from CA, Christensen’s from CO, and McFadden’s from UT in Park City on Friday, August 22nd. We ate, socialized, boys golfed, girls did the spa thing, and ate some more before the big party on Saturday night.

Ohhhhh myyyyy gossshhhh. What a fun night. The party was held at The Inn on the Creek…a quaint little German themed Inn located in Midway, Utah (near Park City).

There were decorations, balloons, food galore, and people, people, people. I was quickly overwhelmed with the people that continued to arrive from all walks of my past life. I wish I could have divided myself into about 20 pieces so I could have given each group of people the attention, love and catching up on life I wanted to devote to them. An example of the people at my party included, but not limited to the below:

Friends from Colorado – early 1990’s
Friends from Minnesota – 1996 – 2000
Friends from California – 2000-2006
JR’s family from Utah and Idaho
Steve’s family from Utah
Steve’s “birth mom” family from Idaho and Utah

After a buffet style dinner, Steve surprised me with a short program.  He had asked my mom, my friends Heidi and  Becky, and my sister Kris to give a type of "roast" to me.  Each and every one of them brought tears to my eyes and made me love them even more...if this is possible... Next was an amazing DVD show that Steve's sister Ashley made that included 100s of photos of me from birth to 2008 (some a little embarrassing I might add – I wasn’t always the most photogenic child)…set to music. Wow, it was amazing. There were even photos I had never seen before because my sister Emily had “unearthed” them from a box of slides.

The party was touching and I felt sooooo loved. To think that so many people would gather together for little ole’ me was surreal and I felt so blessed to have this many high caliber people in my life.

So turning 40 is actually a good thing… It’s working for me so far.

My Family...

My BEST Friends!

My Best Friend and I the eve of my party!