Happy Birthday, Dad!

Thanks for all of your well wishes for my dad and his 70th birthday party! He reads this blog, so I’m sure he appreciated them. The party last night went better than I could’ve hoped for. It was so much fun!

I kept hearing, “I’ve been enjoying your blog!” from friends of his I hadn’t seen in years–and some I barely knew. Apparently he’s been spreading the word. Welcome to all of Dad’s friends!

For those of you who were there, those family members who couldn’t make the trip, and those of you who have heard me stressing about this party for the last few months, I thought I’d show you a few pictures we took last night (we had a “real” photographer there, but I haven’t gotten the ones he took yet). I promise I’ll go back to talking about houses first thing tomorrow.

We rented a large room overlooking a golf course for the party, and it had a covered porch that ran the length of the building. The weather was gorgeous. Here I am with my “little brother” Tim, who is a very smart and important business consultant in PA. I’m so proud of him. He was our emcee for the night and did a great job.

Tim’s wife Shelley is the cutest pregnant lady you ever saw. She’s expecting their second baby at the end of the summer (I’m so excited to be an aunt again!). Just love her.

Lily and her cousin Jack are good buddies. He’s such a sweetie! He was a good boy and gave his Auntie Julie lots of big hugs last night.

That’s my hubby Dave lighting the candles on the cake. We couldn’t have pulled this party off without him. He was such a big help!

Dad gave a short speech after blowing out his candles.

We had a full house.

We heard a lot of wonderful, warm, and funny stories as people got up to talk about Dad last night. I know it meant a lot to him.

Aaron, my brother’s friend who practically grew up in our house, had some funny stories to tell. One was about how Dad helped them make movies on weekends, back when video cameras were “the size of luggage.” He reminded us of a movie the three of us made and starred in as young teens called “The Spider from Hell.” I played a supporting role as a secretary who is attacked by a giant spider and meets an untimely end. Aaron is threatening to put it on YouTube.

Here I am, enjoying the “show.”

One of my dearest friends, Andrea, came. She’s probably the blog’s most loyal reader. You don’t ever miss a day, do you, Andrea? So now you’re on the blog, too! (Please don’t kill me.)

Andrea’s daughter Sam and my daughter Lily (in the white dress) are good friends, too (I had several people ask me last night if they were both mine because they sat together at our table and look so much alike). They had a great time hanging out together.

Lily’s so funny. When I got dressed for the party last night, she said, “You look so pretty! Like you’re going to Mexico!” Not exactly what I was aiming for with my outfit…

At the end of the night, we grabbed a family photo before we left. We were tired but happy, which is probably the best sign of a good party.

To read my Father’s Day post and see photos of my dad through the years, click here.

Tagged as: birthday party, Family