Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Birthday Party

Last Sunday was my dad's 80th birthday. I remember when I was about seven years old and I had found out that Mom turned 42 that year. One day while my parents were out I was soooo sad about how old they were; I remember crying because they would probably be dying soon. Now at 80 and 78 they really don't seem all that old to me.

Anyway, my mom wanted to do something really nice for Dad's birthday, so she and Melanie and I planned a big open-house/birthday party. I ran around Dad's neighborhood last week delivering invitations to his friends; it was nice to see that a lot of them remembered me (and I remembered them, too) and that they all thought so highly of my parents. Saturday, Melanie and I went shopping for food and party dishes. Sunday night I put my family to work on some of the food-preparation, and on Monday (party day) Melanie and I finished getting the food done. That was a neat trick! Peter, my brother, is moving back into town so he needed help (which my boys provided); Thomas, Melanie's son had just been diagnosed with pneumonia and needed extra attention; and in the middle of everything I had to stop and take Michael to the orthodontist. So the party preparations were a little chaotic; but it all turned out well—it always does. In the afternoon Melanie got balloons; I made a birthday poster with a picture of Dad (at about age 20) and she decorated Mom's house while I frosted the cake. We were just finishing the last-minute stuff as the first guests arrived. It's always a little hectic trying to throw a big party together, but I really enjoy it. Fun, satisfying work!

The food was a big success (I had lots of requests for the
toasted almond spread recipe), and everyone at the party seemed to enjoy themselves. I think Dad and Mom had a good time visiting with friends and family who came to wish Dad a happy birthday. And we all enjoyed visiting with our extended family, too. It was a really nice night.

3 comments:

Ben and Tami said...

Your so funny. I didn't realize Mikayla was passed around so much, but to redeem myself as a good mom I was with Brianna a good portion of the night.

You and Melanie did such a good job that night. The food was delicious! Thank you for the recipe for the cheese stuff.

Loralee said...

Passing the baby around at a party is the thing to do! Besides, the pictures were all taken by Mikayla's grandparents. ;-)
Thanks for the comment!

Stephanie said...

That sounds like it was fun. I'm sad I wasn't able to get down there. My mom told me how crazy it was to get everything done. She also told me about the watermelon peacock - I'm glad you posted pictures!! It looks great!!