Happy Birthday Eli!

So this is a day late, but this way you get to see b-day pics. Eli is the big 30, although he's been telling people for a year now that he is 30; he said it was close enough. Eli doesn't really like me posting a lot of stuff about him, but this post will be all about him. =)

Eli is a great guy. There are so many things about him that I love. I'll just share a few.*He loves bringing me flowers. Since our first date, he has been bringing me flowers. He enjoys giving them, and I enjoy receiving them. Sometimes, he has had to find creative ways to bring me flowers. In Idaho, he had connections in the floral department. In Florida, he would pick wildflowers while he was out working and bring them home. In Manhattan (Kansas that is), he made friends with the ladies in the greenhouse so he could take home all the Calla Lilies and Alstroemeria's that he wanted. In Overland Park, we lived close to a Costco, and everyone knows they have the best flowers. Currently he's found a floral shop on the way home from work that he likes to stop at. I don't really have a favorite flower; my favorite is whichever one he brings home for me. He even made me a flower once. I was mad at him for something. When he comes home, he always comes in to give me a kiss. Well, on this day that I was mad at him, he didn't. Being the female that I am, I started getting more mad at him (silly, I know). He came in about five minutes after he got home, and handed me a paper towel flower that he had just made. Needless to say, it's pretty hard to stay mad at someone who's giving you a paper towel flower. Eli is very sweet and thoughtful.*Eli loves playing with the kids. He also turns most playtime events into some sort of learning experience. He really is a great dad. The girls love him so much. Some of their favorite activities include flying kites (if anyone wants to know a super cool, super redneck way of flying a kite, just ask Eli), working in the garden (this is work, but the girls think it's play), playing Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders (of course Eli changes the rules, so they don't like playing with me because I'm a rule follower kind of person), looking for rocks, naming birds, doing their flag ceremony (both the girls know the ins and outs of a flag ceremony and they both know the Pledge of Allegiance), and so many other things.

*Eli has never yelled at me. He's gotten frustrated, but he has never yelled at me. He is very good at controlling his emotions. I'm working on being more like him in this respect. I'm not a yeller, but I do get frustrated and tend to lose control on occasion. I'm glad for his example.

*I can honestly say that there is nothing Eli has done since I've married him that has surprised me. I feel like I knew him pretty good before we got married. What I didn't know was really how great he is. I laugh at myself when I think back to our courtship and how hard of a decision it was to marry him. I have no regrets.

*He doesn't mind packing our kids around in slings. He gets a lot of funny looks, but that doesn't bother him. He carried Samuel around yesterday for the first time in a sling at church. When we got home, he still didn't want to put him down. He enjoys having them close.

*A few more things. He is a hard worker. I have never wondered if he'd be able to provide for us because if needed, he'll do any honest job. He likes to surprise me with things. I'm a hard person to surprise, so he gets a kick out of surprising me. He's very friendly; he's been able to find good friends where ever we've lived. He has a unifiying effect on people. He encourages me to take "me" time. In the past, I haven't been too good about that, so he's started finding ways to push me into "me" time. Right before I had Samuel, he gave a me a gift card to get a manicure and pedicure. I also got a call from a salon once telling me that I had a certain amount of money to spend there, and I had to use it; I couldn't get a refund. Eli knows me really well.

And, he's good lookin'! I could go on, but I'll save it for Eli. =)

As you can see, good looks run in the McMillan family. This is Eli with his dad and little Samuel.

I didn't plan anything spectacular for his birthday, be we had a good day. I'm not sure what his favorite present was, but it's probably a tie between the Utah state flag for his flag pole and the bag of green M & M's (it's the new color of love apparently). I usually make his cake, but Costco has a yummy key lime cheesecake, so that's what he got.

Happy Birthday Eli. We love oodles and bunches!!!

In case you were wondering what the 2 and 7 and 1 and 2 means (I failed to get candles, so I had to dig up some old candles in the cupboard): 27 plus 1 plus 2 equals 30. We're pretty clever around here.