Happy "almost" 30th Birthday!

I’ve done a lot of lying the past two months in order to pull off a surprise “almost” 30^th birthday party for Ryan. His actual birthday isn’t until July 25^th. But knowing he’s been out west fighting wildfires over his birthday for the past two years I decided to throw the celebration a little early. Not only would he really be surprised, but I could rest assured that the guest of honor would probably be there.

Fire became the theme – red, black and white paper products. I found a fire truck cake pan that Ryan’s mom turned into an amazing work of art. Someone actually asked me if I bought it. And I did all of Ryan’s favorites – his favorite beer, his favorite pop, his favorite cake, his favorite appetizers.

Many, many thanks are owed to Ryan’s mom Jane and his sisters Michele and Melissa for their awesome efforts in the kitchen. Honestly, I think I only made two dishes for the festivities. To my mom who graciously gave up spending the day with her grandchildren to help clean and shoulder me through a brief break down after clipping the sump pump hose with the lawn mower and watching our tree snap in half that morning.

And Jason. Our terrific friends Jason and Stefany. Jason got Ryan out of the house at 9 a.m. and somehow managed to keep him occupied until 7:30 p.m. on the dot. I’ve no idea how he did it – but my kudos to him.

Ryan was completely taken by surprise when he pulled into our driveway and the garage door opened to reveal a ton of people. It was a lot of fun to do something so special for him. There were four wheeler rides, much too much food, good company, great conversation and lots of laughs. Hopefully good times were had by all.