Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Three score and ten

Saturday was Paul's birthday!  In 25 years of marriage, I've never had a party for him, other than family parties.  We have kid parties down to a science these last few years:

1. Meet at our house.
2. Go to the beach and play Capture the Flag
3.  Back to the house to play Occupations and other games in the living room while we snack.

So this one had to be different.  Thankfully, it did not have to be a surprise.  I couldn't have managed that as it was in our home, which is an upstairs flat.

So the plan was
1. Lotsa friends.
2. Lotsa food.
3. Lotsa talking.  :-)




I didn't even have a cake planned, yet look at this amazing cake the Lord provided!  The day after Paul's birthday, we went to a church we go to once a year, usually, and the pastor's wife, Frances Bell, made this amazing cake!
 Us with Dougie and Francis Bell.
 It's not only the coolest cake ever, but it tastes delicious!
 Nick Collins, James Young, and Dion Johnson enjoyed swapping jokes.
                               Megan and Julia Johnson added to the fun.
 Nick, Daniel Philips, and Johanneke Johnson seemed to have a good time.
 Paul and David Ker sharing a moment.
 Hilary Ker and Margie Collins behaved themselves.
 Berwick enjoyed the party, though she wasn't allowed in the house.  She did NOT like my decorating HER until I got it off her ears, and then she was fine.


                                          Pinterest was a help in giving decorating ideas.
 Paul enjoyed receiving a bazillion (more or less) good wishes on Facebook and emails.

James made this amazing working "card".  Gloria made a card with 71 balloons in it!  All 4 of their kids made cards too.  They're a creative bunch!
 The food went by in a blur  :- )
Josh cooked him a mammoth omelet for breakfast, so it wasn't just the party time.  This celebration continues to go on! 
Nathanael (cowboy on Josh's neck) had his 5 year old birthday the Saturday before.  That party was a little noisier, but also a good one.

One of Paul's favorite things was his Trip Down Memory Lane.  I gave him a suitcase with many, many birthday wishes and memories that friends sent in.  We enjoyed those for HOURS before and after the party.  We read more of them on Sunday afternoon.  Two of them made us cry, and many of them made us laugh!

Paul didn't remember hitting Amy Smith in the face with a volley ball, nor did he remember rescuing his brother Joseph from a bully.  We got memories from Kenya, memories from Peru, a really nice letter from Romania, and scads of good ones from the USA.

The ones that made us cry were from family (sniff) and had precious memories.

70 successful trips around the sun, and Paul's glad he's in His service.  He's loving it.

2 comments:

  1. How tall is Paul ? And have you guys ever been to Ga?

    ReplyDelete