Etienne turns 40

Etienne turned 40 on 18 February and I wanted to make it a really special day for him so I had a couple of tricks up my sleeve.

Expensive gifts were not an option so I opted to shower him with love for the day.

We went out for an early breakfast whilst my Mom took care of the kids just so we could have a little time together before the day got manic and it was lovely to have him all to myself.  Along with a loud Australian chick at the next table that was curious to know whether South Africans also put braces on their teeth. But anyhoo.

We had a lovely morning at a kiddy party (with wine) and then off home for an afternoon nap.

I then presented him with a little project I had been working on for a while.  The idea came from Pinterest (duh) and you can click here for the original website it came from.  In a nutshell, I contacted Etienne’s old and new friends, colleagues and family and asked them each to send me a memory of him they hold.  The idea was to present him with 40 memories from people special to him on his 40th birthday.  The people in my office must think I am quite mad as I cried so often when I opened the messages at work as they were all so amazing and special.  He was completely blown away and may or may not have pecked a little tear himself.

The pile of envelopes

Thank you THANK YOU to everyone that participated in this, you have no idea how special it was.

Etienne reading his letters

We then moved along to Ke-Monate for his birthday bash with most of our favourite friends and family and it was a truly amazing evening.  The service and food was just perfect and the company was even better!  The restaurant is just outside Durbanville and literally sits between vineyards.  Perfect.

The table
Gift and name tag

The last little trick up my sleeve was Etienne’s birthday cake that was made by Angie, our favourite teacher.  He is a big fan of Lord of the Rings, so we decided on a LOTR cake.  In the end it was my favourite part of the day because of the expression on Etienne’s face when the cake came out.  He loved it!

 

Etienne with his cake (sorry, not the best pic!)

To my love:

I wanted to write you a “40 things I love about you” post, but we tell each other those things on a regular basis anyway and love isn’t about saying so once a year, it’s living it every day, which you do.  Love you madly.

The flowers in his table decoration opening up, loved them.

5 thoughts on “Etienne turns 40”

  1. Wow what a lovely idea for his birthday.
    Had a look at restuarants website….can’t believe I didn’t even know about it,will have to try it soon.

  2. That all sounds wonderful! What a thoughtful, loving person you are! Belated happy birthday to Etienne.

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