Kelsi’s 40th Birthday

Kelsi’s 40th Birthday

I’m proud to say I’ve joined the 40+ club. For years I’ve been rounding up and couldn’t wait to officially say I’m 40. Not sure if I expected to get more respect, say “no” easier, feel calmer and wiser or maybe I just wanted to be 40 and fabulous. Whatever it was/is, I’m now 40 but still haven’t transcended. However, I did get pretty dang close at my 40th birthday party. The theme was Burning Woman; as close to the actual Burning Man festival as I could get. It encompassed creativity, bold costumes, awesome music and all the love and support I could get from my friends and family. My heart was beyond full and that feeling will continue to live on through all the years to come.

Our dearest friend, Brett Bluth, was the creative director and with his magic, the idea of Burning Woman came to life. My brother, Kasey, built a tree of life out of wood that was the center of the party. Each guest was asked to bring a piece of fabric, ribbon, flowers or something to decorate the tree. By the end of the night, the tree of life was a unique piece of art that all of my loved-ones contributed to. That was my greatest gift. Thank you to everyone who actually came to party, dance, decorate my tree of life and most of all make me feel like that burning woman I imagine myself to be. I could go on and on about the the art cars, the epic DJ Dolph who brought it, all of our friends who took the cue of finding your inner superhero and then creating that costume. But mostly, I felt alive and loved and elated to finally be 40. My words fall short from here. The pictures tell the rest.

Below is the image for the invite:

And then the party:

Lake Powell 2022

Lake Powell 2022

We were so excited to finally take the kids to Lake Powell! Lake Powell was a family tradition when John and I grew up, but we haven’t been there with Charlotte and Johnny until this year. Our close friends, the Kohlers, invited us to join them for three nights on a houseboat. I think we all could’ve stayed a lot longer. We did a lot of water sports, hiking, cliff jumping, fishing, star watching, lizard catching and enjoying time with friends. The kids are hooked and so are we! Can’t wait to do it again.

Lots of things to remember: Captain John (official houseboat driver), ski boat overheating, night swimming off the slide, the tube crash (poor Charlotte), Johnny catching lots of lizards, a fish taking the whole bait and fishing pole, playing cards, yummy dinners, not showering, hiking to an old boat wreck, low water, wake surfing, water skiing, knee boarding, John’s epic Top Gun moment driving Grady’s speedboat through the canyon at full speed, using Starlink for the first time, Otter pops, catfish,