60

Yesterday was the big 60th birthday for dad. Let the celebrations begin!! For lunch we headed to Grandma's to do a little celebrating with her.

Dad with his two favorite daughters!

Dad with sweet momma on his big day.

Sister is so thoughtful and got Pops some gluten free cupcakes for his birthday. Dad is allergic to flour... has been for most of his life... so he always misses out on the cake part. But not this year. Thanks to good ole Gigi's cupcakes.

Fulton made his Pops a birthday card. He was so proud.

And we watched him open gifts... got some good stuff. This whole time we are pretend celebrating his birthday... just wait to see what's coming later in the day.

And we celebrated Christmas with Grandma while we were there too. Grandma had several requests for Christmas and one was a wooden bread box. I searched high and low in the stores, no one makes wooden anymore. Never fear, the Petersons came to the rescue and found one online. She loved it.

Our attempt at a family picture. Gotta love some action shots. We left Grandma's house, flew home and rushed to get things ready for this........

A surprise 60th birthday party for our dad!! Woohoo! Mom, sister and I knew we wanted to do something big and fun for dad's birthday party.. it started out with just a few couples over to mom and dad's for dinner and then turned into a full blown surprise dinner party at the antique gallery downtown (where sister had her reception).

Sister and I, with the hubbys, got there early to get everything in place... we ran like crazy to get it all decorated and stopped for 2 quick seconds for a family photo in front of the tree before the big guest arrived. At least there is no spit up in this one.

All the guests arrived at 6:00 and we had mom and dad there at 6:30. He thought he was coming to a Christmas dinner that they have come to in the past. Look at the birthday boy!!! He promises us he was surprised... hopefully he was :)

Dad came in, greeted his friends and family, appetizers were munched on, and the dinner began. We served his favorites... bbq, cole slaw, potato salad, baked beans and the best random side dish... shrimp and grits. Delish!!

During dinner we had some "story times" and some told some pretty good ones on dad. I kept my mouth shut since Christmas is right around the corner and I don't want to put my presents in jeopardy. Dad even gave a little speech... it was sweet!!

Then it was time to cut the cake. And this cake was fabulous. Just a little side note here... if you haven't ever had one of Publix's cakes, they are really really good. Get it with cream cheese icing. Ok, back to the party. Birthday boy blew out the candles and everyone dug into the fabulous desserts.

There were some gifts involved, some gag, including this precious vest, and some real ones. He got some pretty good stuff even though people weren't supposed to bring gifts.

Just another random shot of the festivities. It was so good to have family, old friends, and new friends there to celebrate.

The Rawlins and the Monroe girls (with several new last name changes). Our parents have been friends for 35 something years. Can you believe it?! When I think about 2 families in particular that my parents have been friends with for this long, I pray that Matt and I can keep precious friends like this in our life for that long.

Sister and Steven, aren't they the cutest?!

Our family!! The night was so much fun. We had such a wonderful day getting to celebrate 60 wonderful years with Pops. Happy Birthday Dad! Please note the biggest party animal of the night had to be Fulton. He wore himself out... it's 10:30 am and he is still asleep. This is unheard of. Happy Christmas Eve!