Happy 40th Birthday, Curt!

Second Post of the Day

Curt's birthday this year was one of those biggies, and Vanessa surprised him with a very special party.  She contacted his closest friends from high school and invited them to a surprise party for him.  

I love how caught off guard he is when he realizes his brother has come up from Tennessee, too! (And that he apologizes to the other diners. LOL)

Michael (Murph) and his wife, Melissa, Eric (cousin), Nick, Adam, Curt, Vanessa, Cole, Jalen (former college roommate) and his wife, Jennifer.

I have known these four men since they were little. The stories I could tell! Good ones and funny ones, not naughty ones. These are really nice guys.

And they were all very happy to be together again.

As for stories, once while driving Curt and Adam to a soccer match, I heard Adam advise Curt on laundry. "You don't need to wash your clothes. Just Febreze them and they are good to go," was his sage advice. I nearly choked with surprise and laughter in the front seat, but I didn't contradict him. At least not then!

Nick lived around the corner from us, and he and Curt have been friends since kindergarten. Cowpoke Ian's middle name is Nicholas - he was named after Nick.

When Curt served as a missionary in Brasil for two years, Murph took it upon himself to check on Craig and me occasionally, just to make sure that we were okay and didn't need anything. I will never forget those two years of kindness he gave us.

A couple of friends were unable to be there.

Bridgette, who was also a neighbor and a lovely person inside and out. 

Ella, Curt's long time soccer buddy from middle school and beyond.

Others whose photos I could not find. (Dan, Nick H., Ashley B, Ashley L, and more.) But there is one more very special friend who was not there. 

I'll share about him later.

Stay 'tooned!

 

Lisa's First Birthday Celebration

Lisa turned one of those "big birthdays" on December 30, and we had two celebrations for her. The first was a dinner at Curt and Vanessa's home - he'd promised to cook her one of his specialties, a Mexican dish whose name escapes me but it was absolutely delicious!

My contribution? A homemade lemon meringue pie that she requested. They are a lot of work and I only make them for family members, but the end result is worth the two hours it makes to make one.

We gathered at Curt's home, with Lisa bringing Nash and Molly and Craig and I bringing Pepper. Molly really appreciated the bed that Vanessa kindly put out for her.

What a feast! It took Curt longer to cook her birthday dinner than it did for me to make that pie. But both were worth the effort.

A brother and sister selfie after we were replete.

Lukie spontaneously jumped up to conduct us as we sang Happy Birthday to her.

He's sure got spirit!

And then we all watched as Lisa opened her gifts.

Mila had spent over an hour making something special just for her aunt.

Millie, Molly, Nash, Lisa, and James. It was a very tender moment.

The kids squeezed as close as they could to watch her open things.

This gift is from Sarah - she'd brought it with her at Christmas with directions for me to give it to Lisa when we celebrated her birthday.

Such a lovely evening together, and even though we were all still grieving the loss of James, we were together and we found joy in that.

I'll share the second birthday celebration tomorrow. Stay 'tooned!