Dad's 80th Birthday Party

 Lisa and I got him this shirt to wear for the party.

He is a 1931 Classic!

 Ronda making the Reading Family Salad.

Romaine, avocado, tomatoes, croutons, hard boiled eggs, and ranch dressing.

She made two batches and it was all gone.

We have known the Reading family for 53 years.

 Catching some football during dinner.

 Kristin, Clint, Jim, David.

 One of the cakes.

From Costco.  Chocolate and chocolate and chocolate.

 Some pictures and memorabilia from his Korean War days.

Lisa and I gathered and compiled and scrapbooked all his orders, letters, and pictures a few years ago and gave them to him as a Christmas gift.

 Friends and family.

We ended up having 55 people.

 Outside decorations.

 Christine and John.

 We had big mylar balloons that said 80, but the wind was blowing them around.

We were, however, grateful for the breeze because it cooled the temperature down to the 70's which was really pleasant.

 We had El Pollo Loco cater in.

Chicken, tortillas, pinto beans, mac 'n cheese, tacquitos, pico de gallo, rice, chips, and guacamole.

Keifer made a 1/2 gallon of his salsa.  Green salad and fresh fruit rounded out the menu.

 My dad with all his home teaching families.  Some of them he has home taught for over 10 years.  They love him very much and the feeling is mutual.

 Mike and Adrianne.  He gave the blessing on the food.

And yes, we all cried.

As George Banks would say, we are the Schmaltz family.

 "Happy Birthday To You!"

We sang both verses.

In our family, there is a second verse to the classic song.

"Happy Birthday to you,

May God bless you,

Happy Birthday dear Dad,

Happy Birthday to you!"

 He gave a little speech.

He loves the movie Meet Joe Black.

So he shared his 'two candle wish' with us.

To have love for one another and to share that love.

 Birthday Kiss.

 Linda's 'from scratch' German Chocolate Cake.

There are NO words to describe it!

 Linda's coconut and pineapple cake.  Also from scratch.

So refreshing.

 Opening presents.

 My Girls!
Adrianne, Meredith, Natalie, Christine.

 Shaun and Keifer.

Last present from James and MaryBeth.

We presented him with a book filled with letters of favorite memories from friends and family.  We got letters from all over the country.  They were so fun to read! Some were lengthy and some were short.  Some had lots of memories and some only had one, but each letter was a beautiful tribute to him and the book is a pretty complete picture of his life. Thank you to everyone who sent letters.

It was a great party.

Congratulations, Dad.

Happy 80th Birthday!

We LOVE you!