The Best 40 Year Old I Know!

Yesterday was Paul's 40th birthday! (Paul is my sister-in-law Mandy's boyfriend.) In honor of the huge milestone (and I mean that in the best way possible), Mandy planned a surprise party for him. Instead of giving him an overly adult party, she made it a party fit for a 4 year old - with game stations, fire truck plates and cups, and lots of balloons. Our friends Amy and Laura got Paul out of the house for the majority of the day so Mandy could set up. Roy and I arrived to help around 2 PM (after buying our new car). Everyone began arriving around 4, including Paul's mom, sister, and brother, who all drove a number of hours from northern California to surprise Paul for his big day.

Here are some pics of the setup:

Food table (before food)

Doorway to kitchen

Necklaces for winners of the games. The necklaces were Mardi Gras beads with a picture of Paul as a child tied to each. Whoever won the most necklaces got a $25 gift card to Target!

The banner Mandy had made especially for the occasion

The mini zero by the 4 on the above banner

Drink station

The main course (lamb). It was the bomb. I even ate some, even though I am not technically eating red meat anymore.

The cake, which I made (Mandy put the frosting and yogurt drops on.) It was a huge hit!

The disclaimer note by the cake

Favor bags

To keep everyone busy before Paul arrived, everyone settled in at different game stations and played like fiends. At our table, we played Memory and Hi-ho, Cherry O!




Finally, Paul arrived at around 5:45. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of him when he arrived, because Roy was using the camera for video purposes. But Paul was really surprised - it was great! (Video hopefully coming later.)

So afterwards we all just sat around and ate and hung out. It was a good time. We got Paul a framed picture of him and Mandy from our wedding:



And of course, we had to get Patty to take a picture of us as well:



Happy birthday, Paul! Here's wishing you a happy and healthy 40th year!