60th Birthday Party

I turned 60 last week. Yes, a big birthday, to be sure.

A couple of months ago, Denice and Wendy made plans to visit me that same week, so I asked Brian and Carrie if we could have a family dinner at their house while my girlfriends were here instead of them trying to be sneaky and plan a surprise party. They had thrown a big surprise birthday party for Carrie’s mother’s 60th a few years ago, and I suspected they might be up to that same mischief. So they let me be in on the plans, and we started figuring out who would be in town to help us celebrate. Turns out, quite a crowd was on hand to make it a really festive afternoon/evening, and help me eat cake. A couple weeks ago, I found out Robin, Ken and the kids were planning to be in town for spring break and would join us. Richard and Dianna, along with Deidra were also here. Daryl’s family, the Balches, and Mom came along and Derek brought his girlfriend, Stephanie. Glenda and her beau Frank stopped by. All together, I believe we had around 25. Things were a bit chaotic, but couldn’t have been more fun! Brian and Carrie were wonderful hosts and their home is perfect for handling a large crowd. We had a cookout, and the weather was beautiful, so several folks ate outside. Lauren enjoyed it too, and rewarded us with some smiles.

 While I was mingling among the crowd, I gave my iPhone to Nathan and asked him to take pictures of everyone. He captured quite a few people, but I’m not sure he has a career as a photographer in his future. Here’s what I found on the disk when he gave it back to me. We are missing Daryl’s family, the Balch boys, Glenda and Frank, and Andrew.

Here’s my cake (courtesy of Heather) and one of those sweet smiles I told you about.