Blessed Chaos: August 2011

My birthday is at the end of July and my dad's is 5 days later. So we typically have a week of celebration! It started on the 30th with a birthday dinner for me with my friends! Then Sunday night a birthday dinner with my family. We had family in town all week so we got to celebrate all week too! This year was extra special because my dad turned 60! Some of his family was already in town visiting but the rest of his brothers, nephews, et. al. from Kentucky all flew in Thursday night to surprise him on Friday (his actual birthday) morning. He was scheduled to play golf with my brother and everyone was waiting in the cafe in the pro shop to surprise him! He was overwhelmed and so happy to see everyone there. Then on Saturday we threw him a party. It's hard to do it justice with just pictures but the party was a BLAST. First of all, my family is SO much fun. Everyone gets along, goofs off and just all around has a great time together. My dad is the oldest of six kids and we moved to Texas when I was 3 years old. My parents have done an incredible job of staying close with the family even though we moved 800 miles away. It's such a blessing because I know so many families don't do that. Some of my best memories of childhood (and adulthood too!) include trips to Kentucky and them visiting us in Texas. They are all awesome and I cherish all the time I get to spend with them! A special shout out to Mark...he cooked all the food for the party on Saturday. We had the most delicious chicken fajitas, homemade pico de gallo, homemade guacamole, etc. He was kind of a slacker and bought tortillas instead of making them. I'm totally kidding, he's definitely not a slacker when it comes to cooking. He really is talented and loves to cook. Now, the cleanup, well that's a whole different story.... :)