On the Wings of Love: Jason's B-day

Jason turned 31 on the 1st of this month. He turned 30 in Afghanistan last year, so I wanted to make this year special. I totally down played it in the weeks leading up. By the time the day rolled around, he was pretty sure he was getting a whole lotta nothin' (he got an iPhone a couple months before, so we were going to call that his gift...I'm not heartless).

Jason has always talked about wanting to go skydiving. Whenever he heard about someone going, he would say, "I'd love to do that!" We never talked about specifics or anything, so I knew it would be a big surprise.

Well, the morning of his birthday, I left this poem out with some balloons on the kitchen counter so he would see it before he left for work. I tried to rotate the picture for you, but it wouldn't work for me...just turn your head and you'll be fine.


So, throughout the day I gave him little gifts that would be hints to help him guess what his big present would be. Jason is an extremely good guesser, so the gifts were ridiculously vague because I get so mad when he guesses right and ruins the surprise. I'm annoyed that I didn't take pictures of the process....oh well.

When he went out to his car to head to work, he found more balloons along with a pack of Bubble Yum bubble gum. There was also a CD I made with strict instructions to only listen to the first two songs. The songs were "Happy Birthday" by The New Kids on the Block and another b-day song by The Beatles. (The songs weren't hints, they were just fun. The gum is a clue. You know...bubble gum...bubbles....air. I told you they were vague!)

Graham, Benny, and I joined Jason for lunch at his favorite place to eat, Jersey Mike's Subs. I gave him his second hint then. It was a bag of Depends For Men. Yes...adult diapers in case he peed his pants as he jumped out of the plane. By this point he was extremely confused and had no idea what was coming.

When he went out to his car to come home for the day, he found more balloons with some deodorant and breath mints tied together nicely with a bow. (I knew he'd be flying tandem with a certified skydiver, so I wanted him to smell good and have fresh breath.) He was then able to listen to the last 3 songs: "On the Wings of Love", The Top Gun Theme Song, and "I Believe I Can Fly".

He arrived home, more confused then ever, and wanted to know what he was getting. At our house, we play the "You're Getting Warmer" game to find our hidden presents. So, I sent Jason on a search around the house. Finally he got to the bottom drawer in our bedroom and found a rolled up piece of paper. It was a gift certificate to go Skydiving! I had scheduled his time of flight for the next week.



After the gift, we had homemade pizza (one of Jason's faves)for dinner. Instead of a birthday cake we had waffle cones and ice cream.

Here's some pics of Jason's adventure.


They flew in this tiny, rickety, old plane. He was worried they weren't going to be able to take off.







He had a great time! Got a little nauseous, but loved it!