My ---th Birthday

Yup, my 29.99999999th birthday, as I choose to call it, came and went on August 25th. Three days before my birthday, I was COMPLETELY surprised by a luau party thrown in my honor by my sisters (with a little help from Dru). All three of them did a fantastic job of keeping it a surprise - I had NO CLUE what was happening - as far as I knew I was meeting my sister and niece for a nice Sunday afternoon picnic and swim at Lucky Peak State Park. However, when we pulled up to the place we were to meet them, I began recognizing people who were NOT supposed to be there. I turned to Dru and asked, befuddled, "what the heck is this, Dru?? What the heck is this?!?!" He laughed and told me to get out of the car, which I was embarrassed to do as I hadn't taken a shower and had a bathing suit on underneath my grubby clothes. But I got out of the car and was greeted with a loud shouted "Surprise!" Surprise indeed!

The scene that we pulled up to


My birthday banner (the sign mistakenly has a 3-0 on it instead of 29.99999999)


The guilty instigators - Julia and Chelsea


Our family


Fin thought the surprise on Mommy was great


I mingled with guests for awhile - here with my nurse, Christie, from work and her mom - I was delighted they could come!


Of course Fin enjoyed being with Poppy

Even my 91-year-old grandmother showed up for the festivities!

Then it was time to eat - there was a snow-cone appetizer before dinner

And the boys (Ben and Dru) barbecued delicious marinated chicken and pineapple

Here I am with my plateful of Hawaiian goodies

After we ate, we played games - horseshoes, croquet, and volleyball

The master player

No, wait, here's the master player

A pic of the winning shot - or so I hoped; Julia actually beat me - barely

Then...my favorite part...CAKE!! Julia made this incredible Hawaiian cake

The detail was stunning - check out those palm trees and hibiscus flowers

She even hand-sewed together mini leis and fashioned tiny flip-flops out of icing!!!

A shot of me with my cake

And with the decorator

And with the planning committee

And my dearest hubby

And the whole fam

Fin loved eating the cake

I mean really loved it (you'd know how he feels if you tasted my sister's cake)

Then it was more fun and hanging out. Here's Gretchen Hawaiian style - "hangin' loose"

Gretchen and Callia in their Hawaiian gear

Poppy playing with the grandkids (of course)

And one final shot of me with my delightful sisters, who threw me a wonderful party. As a gift, my mom got me a bottle of wine called "Middle Sister" - classic. That pretty much says it all. Thank you, Jules and Chelsea!!!!