The day of a new age!

So literally, I'm writing about this past weekend, and how I turned 21.

Friday I celibrated my birthday with about 25 super awesome people! Some could also not come, so that was dissapointing, but we had the best time. We first departed and went up to Mt. Shasta City, CA to go ice skating at the Siskiyou Ice Rink. We had a great time flying around in a giant circle, playing tag, having katie tam knock us over, skating together, figuring out how to skate backwards, racing, and just plain joyful glee!

One of the funniest parts was when we asked this lady to take a group picture of us. She turned around and noticed a big group, so she exclaimed, "WOW THIS IS A BIG GROUP!!! WHAT ARE YOU HERE FOR?!?!" Someone informed them that, "It is James' Birthday!" She then joyfully said, "OH! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!!!" everyone errupted. Then she was telling us to scoot in tight so that "Dave can remember this for the rest of his life!" And before she took the picture she said, "Okay, everybody say, 'Happy Birthday DAVE!'" to which everyone errupted in laughter again and nobody could correct her. It was soo funny!

We then went to the local pizza parlor and had some delicious pizza. I got an awesome shirt from Katie Tam that says "I *heart* skinks" on the front and "RIP Azor" on the back (Azor was my pet skink, and Katie told me she was gonna make me the shirt when i told her i was going to make her a name plate, and when i did, she decided that was what she was going to make me for my birthday). Jenna prayed over me, which was awesome, and I never thanked her. Danae wrote me a very uplifting and encouraging letter, which I was also very thankful for. I also received cards from Dana, Matt and Aubrey. The gifts were great, but the presence of all of these people are what made the night what it was.

Some interesting events transpired over the next two days, and then monday came (my actual birthday).

My parents and younger brother had planned to come up to hang out with me and my friends. We ended up going to Casa Ramos for lunch and my parents ended up picking up the whole bill for everyone there, which was very generous of them, and much appreciated by all who were there. We had a great time and it seemed like my little brother had a great time hanging out with my friends and joking around with them. After lunch my younger brother and I went to play softball with some of the guys down at the middle school down the road, while my parents watched and cheered us on. We had a great time!

All in all, this past weekend and celebrating my birthday with all of those people was totally awesome. It is good to know that I am spending my time with Godly people who are a positive influence in my life while I grow and mature in my faith. I appreciate every one of them and I am so glad that each of them have been placed in my life.