So, here's what really happened

On Andy's birthday I wrote a little piece about his birthday party. We really did have a small party for him, with cake, and a few friends, and streamers handing from the doorway.

But that wasn't his birthday present. He had already gotten his birthday present a few days earlier, and just didn't want his parents, or mine, to find out about it through the blog.

Andy talked to a talented artist named Tito, and had several Ukrainian symbols drawn up into a collage.

He also had a Martin Luther King Jr. quote translated into Ukrainian. "If a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live."

Here is the finished product.

Spiders are a Ukrainian symbol for good luck.

I HATE spiders, but luckily, that little guy has grown on me...

When we went "home" the weekend after, his mother first punched him, then yelled at him, (in Ukrainian even), but then decided that she liked the quote, and the symbols he had chosen, so if he was going to get another tattoo, at least it was a decently good one.

We went to a really fabulous pizza place, Big Pie in the Sky, while we were home. It is owned by one of Andy's childhood friends, Chris Day, and has some HUGE pizzas.

Didn't I tell you they were HUGE!

It was also just a fun place to hang out with friends.

We try to take a picture of Corey and Carrie's two, and our two all together at least once a year. Right now they still fit in age order/height order. I am eager to see how that changes over the course of time.

All in all, I think Andy ended up with a pretty great 30th birthday. Two birthday parties, and a present that will last forever! (plus a wife that didn't complain about it either!)