Surprize!! Happy Birthday Dad!!

What a Classy Party! See the banner that says, "Surprise"...and the Birthday hats, and those annoying blow-noisy-roll-up-paper things...








Dad trying to recover from the shock...and Grandfather close by, 'just in case'...Grandfather did a great job of occupying Dad's attention...Dad arrived, and Ab/Jeff/Mike were all 3 min behind him coming from the airport...I, of course, was upstairs doing my hair and makeup w/ my cousin Kira....but I snuck out the back door to meet Ab/Jeff/Mike in order to make our grand entrance and holla' "Surprise"...it worked perfect...for the first time in my life, my father was speechless (but it was a fleeting moment)...what a treat to give him such a great surprise!!






Abby and Aunt Kathleen enjoying some 'catching up'....and yes that is a huge stuffed Giraffe behind them...a fixture of my Grandparents house since as long as I can remember. Funny how after time, it doesn't seem strange at all....doesn't every one's grandparents have a huge stuffed Giraffe in their den??






From the left, cousin Kira, Grandfather, and Ab...just hangin out!





Like most 9 year old kids, Kira's enjoyment of sitting around talking, was short lived. Luckily, Jeff (hmm, what is his title to her, it's her cousins' husband...anyone??) was happy to kick the soccer ball around w/ her

Cheers, Happy Birthday Dad!







We decided to go for a walk in the woods, to soak up the awesome Northeast Fall...that's Mike, Ab, Grandmother, Aunt Kathleen, and Dad.






A nice Romantic shot...thanks Mike!




Aww, Smoochie Poochie!
This walk was supposed to be a gentle walk in the woods...but it had been so long since anyone had walked these trails and they had all grown over...it ended up being more of a hike. Grandmother has been battling Plantar facitis, and this was her first walk in a while...too much...but they were given a ride by a gentleman who's house we happened to pass and it turns out the house my Grandparents have lived in for 25yrs was his mothers house...CRAZY huh..

After workin' up an appetite w/ the walk, we enjoyed a delicious seafood casserole, fresh veggies, salad...and






The cake!
I think Dad was a little overwhelmed. He's prob not had this much fuss over him in a long time! But hey, it's fun to be King, for a day!! Notice his crown!! (He's always saying, "I'm the King of..fill in the blank")





After dinner, Mike and Kira played one of those nameless games my Grandparents have had for as long as I can remember...there are 3 pegs..and you try to move the stack of squares of decending sizes, but you cannot put a larger one on top of a smaller one...sounds fun huh?

That was that...good old Birthday Party...with family from all over (Seattle, Flagstaff, New York, Ackworth NH, and Weare NH)....