Well, well, guess who FINALLY turned the BIG 3-0?! That’s right: my child-groom, Mr. Barrick. (Hard to believe, I know, because he doesn’t look a day over 29). I’m so grateful that this day finally came, because he has been gloating about being in a different decade than me for two years now. (Three years, if you ask him in August/September during the three weeks between my birthday and his. Both logic and math take a huge hit.)
Anyway, I wanted to do something special for my favorite guy, so I set out to throw a surprise party. This was a daunting task, since I am the WORST. LIAR. EVER. In the end, I decided that even if he figured out that I was throwing him a party, I wanted the guest list to be the main attraction. About a month or so in advance, I sent out a secret evite to our family and friends all over Texas and beyond. In the end, 20 or so people were able to make it. The fabulous travelers included his brother and sister-in-law from Lubbock, his parents from North Texas, an aunt and uncle from Huntsville, cousins from Austin, high school friends from Waco, my mom, brother and sister-in-law from Louisiana, another aunt, uncle and cousin from Pensacola, and our best friends that now reside in Corpus Christi. Of course, we had a few friends from in town, too! He was so surprised when he walked in and saw everyone, but what was awesome was seeing him continue to smile and be surprised as he discovered each of the guests who had come from so far to celebrate with us!
Here he is making the rounds and saying “hi” to everyone!
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| Kerry, Dylan & Uncle Kenneth |
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| Wayne, Brad, Addison, Holly & Britt |
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| Cousin Claire! Yay! |
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| Our San Antonio Peeps! |
Here we are enjoying some yummy lunch at our crazy-long table!
We had three nursing babies at the party… I guess that comes with the territory for us 20 and 30-somethings!
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| Liz and Jess rocking those nursing covers! |
Speaking of hungry babies, Noah decided to chase his milk with some of Uncle Gav’s ribs!
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| Give me the ribs! |
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| Nom Nom Nom! |
I kept the décor simple: lollipop bouquets, balloons, some confetti (which is apparently not allowed at D&B – kudos to Mr. Manager for calling me out for not reading my contract), and photo collages from the birthday boy’s early years. THANK YOU, Diane, for sending me those treasures. And thank you for not sending Brian back to his room to change 15 years ago when he came out in the blue tank top, black socks, and sandals. Really. That picture was the highlight of my year.
We sang and had cake, of course! I would have loved to make him a cake, but it might have blown the surprise (since he does walk through the kitchen from time to time).
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| Blow out those candles, Old Man! |
Afterwards we hit the game room for some fun!
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| Some quality father/son time |
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| The guns were popular |
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| You can take the boy out of the Army... |
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| Addison enjoying the party |
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| Emmeline enjoying a snooze |
Brian used his tickets to get treats for Ben and Gracie, who were hanging out at home with the Collins kids and our YL girls.
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| A football and a Tinkerbell bracelet! |
All of the sneaky planning ended up being SOOOO worth it! We really enjoyed having our family and friends around (it was like a mini-reunion). Brian and I are both so grateful to all of you who came in to town from so far away to help him ring in his new decade! Thank you, thank you, thank you! And Happy 30th Birthday to the best hubby ever! On each of your birthdays I am reminded of what a gift you are to me. I love you!
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| Thirty doesn't suck so much, after all! |
