Celebrating Phil's Birthday

   Today was Phil's birthday and I tried to come up with something the kids would like to do to remember Daddy.  We have been vacationing in Colorado for almost two weeks, and decided to release balloons in Phil's favorite valley with special messages inside.  My in-laws, my parents, and my kids all picked our favorite color or Phil's favorite, and traveled out this morning.  It has been a beautiful day and the temperature was perfect. My kids absolutely loved it and didn't shed one tear.  We all stood in a circle and prayed.  Then counted to 35 since that was how old Phil would have been today, and released them.  We all stayed mesmerized as the balloons slowly rose too high for us to see with our naked eye. We have spent the whole day celebrating his life and having fun.  What makes this day so special is that every member of our immediate family got to join us.  My siblings and Phil's siblings all were able to release a balloon at their own homes, even though we live spread out from one side of the country to the other.  We are ending our celebration with birthday cake tonight.  Thank you to all our sweet family for taking pictures and honoring their crazy sister and sister-in-law's request.