Mark's 30th Birthday Celebration

In November, Mark celebrated his 30th Birthday.  After months of discussing plans and preparations Mark opted to not have a big party or celebration because his family would be out of town.  So the weekend before his Birthday we had plans to go to Boulder, CO for the A&M vs. CU game and thanks to Bryan and Clint they made it a weekend he will never forget.

Mark and I got really lucky to begin with.  The night before we were planning to drive out to Colorado we went to Aggie Happy Hour so Mark could introduce me to the other Ags of Southeastern Kansas.  Scott, a seasoned pilot, fellow Aggie and Aerospace Engineer, invited us to fly out to the game with us.  Since this would save Mark and I over 10 hours of travel time over the weekend we quickly seized that opportunity.  Scott has a small four seater Mooney.  I got to sit up front and even fly the plane a little.  I must say I was incredibly scared to be in a plane that small but our pilot was great and very patient with me taking time to explain every switch, knob and dial.  So off we flew...

Clint Baker, who drove to Colorado in record time from Texas, picked us from the airport and we headed on to Boulder.  Opting to skip out on Aggie festivities for the night we headed out to Pearl Street in search food and drinks.  Before we left the hotel I surprised the boys with some t-shirts to mark the special occasion.  They were a little hesitant to wear them out in public so after Mark modeled his shirt in the hotel the boys decided to wear them out but underneath what they deemed acceptable attire.  However as the night went on, and the more the boys drank, the more the shirts came out.  I think everyone will attest that the most annoying line of the night was coined by Clint.  "Hey! Hey! Have you seen this guy?"

Then there was Game Day....

Mark was in charge of purchasing the tickets and he really hit the jackpot with these.  The picture above was not taken with a mega-zoom lens but rather with my little point and shoot camera I always keep in my purse.  We were sitting 6th row 45 yard line and it was awesome.  Even though the Ags lost it was still probably one of the best games we have ever been to.  The seats were so close to the field that we felt like part of the action.  As Mark pointed out, you could even smell the icy hot.

Mark's favorite player of the year, Aggie Quarterback Jerrod Johnson, totally turned around and pointed to Mark. (not really but at least it looks like it in the picture) 

The next morning, after a big hearty breakfast, Bryan took us on a little sightseeing trip around Boulder and even got us out of the car for a little fresh air and exercise.  Thank goodness Bryan's flight was early, had it been any later I don't know if I would made it much farther in our hike.  They might have had to life flight me off the mountain.

Mark and I headed back to the airport a little early to relax and wait for our flight home.  While we waited we got our own personal sky diving show.

After a fun and exhausting weekend we finished off Mark's Birthday celebration with a surprise visit from Mark's Dad and Donna on Monday, November 10th, Mark's Birthday.  I was not sure how I was going to pull it off but I kept it a secret and when Mark arrived home from work he was greeted by his father wearing a "Mark's Big 30" t-shirt.

 

Happy 30th Birthday Mark!  I hope this is one you will never forget.