40th Birthday

     I had a great 40th birthday this year!  Something interesting is that people here celebrate birthdays ending in a 5 or a 0 in a big way.  Usually you plan it yourself and have a big party either at your house or a restaurant.  They call them Jubilees.  But for some reason, people do NOT celebrate the 40th birthday.  (it's some kind of superstition) This took the pressure off of me needing to plan a party.  But I also felt the freedom to celebrate, just the same.  =)  Gramma Irene arrived from the States just a couple days before my birthday.  It was so special to have her here, and we celebrated the day with Gramma Irene and Nettie.  Leif made omelets for breakfast (my favorite) and we had Greek pizza for lunch.

The girls and I wore matching dresses.

Ike bought me this necklace with his own money.

     Then we headed to a special sauna.  I'd been there recently for my friend, Larisa's party.  When we looked it up online, we saw that they were having a 50% off sale!  It was very fun, because there is a pool to swim in.  The kids are little fish and could swim forever.  My favorite part is the steam sauna.  The dry sauna usually gives me a headache, but the steam sauna feels so nice to breathe in!

This is a bucket that dumps ice-cold water on your head.

    Our perfect day had a perfect ending.  Earlier that week, Leif had seen that a certain sports store was going out of business.  The family got me a bike for my birthday (which I've been wanting since we moved to the village!).  Ella's and Ike's bikes were already too small, and Leif didn't have a bike either.  We stopped into the store after the sauna, and they had three bikes, all the right sizes, and all on a super sale!  Great Grandma Marjie had given us a special gift via Irene, and we were all so excited to use it so that our family could ride bikes together!  That evening, we all rode around through the fields and roads.  I feel so incredibly blessed!