Happy Birthday, Daddy-O!

That's right, it was Dad's birthday on Monday!

One of our good friends, and who also happens to live right next door, wondered if she could make a family birthday dinner for all of us and have it be a surprise for Dad.

So we all got in on how to get him over there without knowing anything was going on - not as easy as we thought, but it was all good.

We got him a little present for the actual day (yes, that is Santa Claus wrapping paper; we always try to find weird things/ways to wrap presents for each other), but his real present is going to be a new grill, once he has time to go out with us and pick the one his heart desires. :)

 As soon as he got home from work, we told him a partial truth, which was that Flory (the friend throwing the party) had something for him and wanted him to walk over real quick.

That may sound like a give-away, but Flory makes the best Mexican food and is always sending some over to us, so it really wasn't unusual for him to be told something like that.

The minute that he left our house, Mom, Malia, Nani, and I ran out the back door, through the side fence, and into the neighbors backyard through their fence, then through their back door into the kitchen.

Miraculously we got into the house before Dad had knocked on the front door! We went flying into the kitchen where we found a bunch of friends from the ward who Flory had invited to come for the party, too, so that was even a bit of a fun surprise for us!

He knocked on the door and Squeaky (Jordon, who is basically one of the family over here) answered and had Dad come to the kitchen. As soon as Dad pushed the door open, a few of the kids started blowing party favors and there were balloons all around - not to mention a kitchen full of people!

I love Dad's face as he trys to dodge a party favor in this picture!

There's the classy cook, herself!

 This was what Dad saw as soon as he walked in.

It turned out to be quite a fun dinner! I sat in the other room with a bunch of the kids, but I got to witness Dad getting scared out of his seat when one of the guys at the party snuck up behind Dad and popped a huge balloon next to him. It was awesome!! :D

The birthday boy and Squeaky

                           One of the ladies from the ward brought a massive Costco cake - yum!!

  
Anyway, Dad had a good time and it was super nice of Flory to make such a fun day for all of us!
 
  I saw this picture on Pinterest (don't go there, you can never come back!) and it made me smile because that is totally something my dad would do!

  In fact, sometimes he does stuff like that without even knowing. For example, one time, several years ago my Dad's Uncle Ron was over and Dad was trying to help him figure some things out on the computer.
  They were so busy that Dad didn't notice when one of us little girls snuck up and snapped a barrett into his hair.
  Well, a little while later Dad and Uncle Ron had to run to the store and while they were there, Uncle Ron looked at Dad and said, "Ronnie, what've you got in your hair?!" The hair clip was hastily removed and then returned, with a grin, to us girls once Dad got home! :)
  He's a good sport and puts up with all kinds of things like that, but you know, you give a little you get a little.
   He is a super dad though, and I know that even though we each like to tease him all the time, we wouldn't trade him for anything or anyone! It's fun to go to work and open up my lunch bag and find a little surprise note from him. Yep, he finally gets a chance to stick notes in his grown girl's lunchboxes. :)
  He's a good pal and a hard worker and has taught all of us how to be responsible people as we've grown up, which we're all thankful for.
  So Happy Birthday, Dad!! Thanks for being our dad!