The man I love with all my heart turns 40 years old today!  Happy Birthday Brian!

Sam, our Egyptologist (and newest family member :)), told us that Rameses II believed that forty was a man’s prime age.  It only seems appropriate to start this birthday post with a photo of Brian in front of Abu Simbel where four statues of Rameses II tower overhead at sunrise.

I think Ramses II was on to something.  I sense a new season coming for Brian’s life, and I’m so excited.  Together, we dream big.  Our latest dream is to create a family travel TV show.  Doesn’t that sound crazy-fun?!  But this means that Brian plays just about every role but the host.  And yet, this didn’t scare him off one bit.  He flew to CA to take a video/film intensive training.  He is one of the camera men for our Disney show.  And in Egypt, he is the Director, Camera Man, and Sound/Audio person (not to mention major encourager when I feel a bit funny talking into the camera as Bedouin men watch with their camels!).

Honestly, we don’t know what we are doing half the time.  But there is only one way to find out!  I loved waking up on the Felucca sailboat the other morning, and finding Brian at the back with his camera already rolling.

Joy was just bursting out of him!  He was experimenting, recording the sound of birds, the sunrise on the Nile, seeing what worked and what didn’t.  A true artist giving himself freedom to create whether it’s messy or a masterpiece.  And for this I admire him wholeheartedly.

I can’t imagine a better father than Brian.  He loves on our kids like no other.

As I looked through the photos I’ve captured of him in Egypt, I LOVED how our kids were always laughing in the background or beside him.  His joy, jokes, impressions of camels (wait till you see that one!), makes everyone want to pee their pants from laughing so much! I see the admiration in Blaze’s eyes when he looks at his dad, and my heart is full.  If ever a man deserves the admiration of his wife and kiddos, it’s Brian.

No one wants to mirror Brian more than Blaze.

This photo had to happen right after Brian did his famous “camel impression”.  🙂  I’m sure he is going to do it for our ladies at the February CONFIDENCE workshop!  I’ll make him if I have to (but all our CONFIDENCE graduates know his gift for impersonating animals, like monkeys in Thailand.)

But aside from how much he makes us laugh, Brian cares so deeply for people.  I hear him mentor our CONFIDENCE teachers, how much he wants to help others succeed. I see his heart moved by all the political turmoil in Egypt.  I know new chapters are ahead for him, for us, our family.  For the last fifteen years of our marriage, I’ve had the gift of Brian’s belief in me.  But I’ve always known that this incredible gift is not just meant for me and the kids, he has so much to give and I’m beginning to get glimpses of what this may look like.  (and my heart is overwhelmed and excited–as if crossing into his forties holds many rich experiences of walking in his own calling or as “The Alchemist” writes, his Personal Legend)

I am excited to go with him, to see what the unknown future holds.  Sometimes we feel scared and other times excited.

Most of all, I simply LOVE this man.

He is a dreamer, believer in all things that seem impossible, and because of Brian the world is a better, stronger, richer place.

Happy Birthday to my dear husband.

May turning forty open the floodgates of all that you dream of!

Love you honey,

Me Ra