We celebrated Dave's 40th Birthday this year and here are some pictures from that party. Boy what a lead up to the party, too. Let me tell you this party was very close to being a no-go. For starters...I hate planning parties...I'm just not good at it. Another problem was that Dave didn't really want one....but some friends...and you know who you are...pressured me into throwing a surprise party for him. Well, as you will see, it turned out great and we had a wonderful time.
But it wasn't easy getting there....One of the hardest things was keeping it a secret. I spent the weeks leading up to the big event secretly getting invites out while Dave was out of town. Then, the weekend before, we were going to have a family dinner to celebrate his birthday. I felt this would throw him off a bit and that he wouldn't suspect the real party to follow. Well, that got blown to pieces when our youngest daughter got a terrible stomach virus and ended up not only giving it to the rest of us, but put herself in the ER as well. Poor kid was throwing up for a week and couldn't hold anything down. So, we had to cancel the family party...I thought we were going to end up canceling the whole thing....but I avoided that until the last minute.
The next part of my plan was to get Kevin and Angi to "invite" us over for dinner on Sat. evening. The only prob. was that Sarah was still throwing up. So, I told Dave that we should have Mom watch Sarah so that Amanda could get out of the house and play with Erin. I have a feeling that was a huge give away to Dave. I would not normally suggest something like that, but I was desperate to get him to go. He says he had a few suspicions, but wasn't sure until we started driving up the street to where the party was being held. We could see the back of the house we were going to, as it has a wonderful upper deck with a view of the entire valley. So, naturally everybody was out standing on the deck looking at the view when we started driving up the street. You would think that when an invitation says "Surprise Party" on it, you wouldn't be standing out, visible to the only street we could drive up to get there. Oh, well....Dave looks at the house and says..."So, are there going to be a lot of people at the party?" Gotcha or should I say Got-me!
I was sweating bullets the entire week before the party, thinking I was going to be able to keep it a surprise, but it didn't quite work out as I had planned. But, as you will see, it turned out to be a fun time.
We were eating out on the drive way....
and in the garage....which was perfect, by the way. It is huge and out of the wind, and the kids can spill on the floor and nobody cares. :0)
There's the birthday boy with my brother and dad and a friend of ours...Mike.
Here are some really good friends of Dave's, Terry, and Sue. Terry went to school with Dave and Sue "adopted" Dave when he came to work in her office. 
Dave and Amanda blowing out the candle.
I'm so glad I caught his expresstion here. What could be causing such a look on his face? You wonder.....
....two bottles of Western Salad Dressing. Yes, you read that right. We can't get that kind out here, so when his friends went back to the mid-west to visit family, they brought it back for him.
I don't think you're over the hill Honey!
Oh, wait...with those glasses on...you look over the hill. Tee-Hee!
You may be wondering about the Red Sox t-shirt...well, when Dave worked in the same office as Sue, they would bet each other that their favorite team (Dave's-The Twins & Sue's-The Red Sox) would win...then whoever lost would have to wear the t-shirt of the others favorite team. So, she got him a Red Sox shirt.
After a bit of beer they broke out the dice table and the bets were on.
Some won quite a bit. Yay, Sue!
Even the kids got in on the action....we are such good role models. :0)We had so much fun and Dave really enjoyed himself with everybody. We have such a wonderful group of friends and can't thank them enough for making this such a special day for my special man.
