Louis Dean's Birthday Party and the Santa Painting Winner is........

As busy as Amber was, is and STAYS - she was bound and determined to throw Louis Dean a 'Surprise' birthday party for his 80th!

The 'surprise' was that he thought it was simply a small family celebration.

He had no idea she had decorated and invited a lot of friends and family.

She had photos displayed and made that beautiful poster hanging up there between the stars.

Amber wrapped a canvas with brown paper and then drew the poster herself - all the while she had four little people running all around her!

She also custom made this plaque following the theme of music - which everyone knows is the heart and soul of Louis Dean.

The party was to start at 5:00 and she had told HIM to arrive at 5:30.

I was over earlier to help in the set up.

Of COURSE Louis Dean shows up a whole hour earlier!!!

No matter!!! He was surprised to see each and every guest arrive since he had no idea they were coming!

Amber arranged for some live music as the entertainment for the evening.

Irish music!!!

 Louis Dean loved the month we spent with Amber and Mike when they lived in Scotland for a year.

 Going to Inverness by train from Aberdeen and seeing The Blazing Saddles play the Hootananny was the highlight of  the trip for Louis Dean.

The musicians even called him up on stage! He loved it!!

The musicians were playing an Irish fiddle and an Irish drum called a Bodhran.

And now for the BEST video clip of ALL!!!

As they were playing, Harrison jumped in like a little Irish Elf and proceeded to jig to the delight of all of us - including the musicians!!! Where did he learn how to do that??

They closed the entertainment with Ashokan Farewell.....perfect!

We invited them to stay for dinner and continued to visit with these delightful musicians.

Now for a few peeks into the party last night.......

We are a family of huggers so there was plenty of that going on all night!

From left to right.....

Louis Dean's son, Brenda off in the background, Nita, and Brother Lonnie!

The guests flowed freely through the kitchen, play room, living room and dining area.

That striking young lady, Payton, is the daughter of Amber's long time synchro coach, Megan - who is holding Kailey on her lap.

Dean and Sherry and their daughter.

They were the BIGGEST surprise guests of the night!

Louis Dean was smiles all night long!!

My three favorite 'Dean's' all in one room!

Any time Granddad sits down, someone is in his lap.

We had lots of food! Lots of drinks! Lots of guests and lots of FUN!!

Father and son.......

Uncle and Niece Crystal!

Brother in law Mike and me.....

Mother and Daughter!

Super Dad of the year, Ben!!

He brought folding highchairs and set them up in the corner of the dining room to feed his two!

JoAnn is Ben's wife and appreciated him giving her some 'party time!'

Amber and Brady - Megan's son.

My sister, Nita, sipping the special cocktail I made.

Blackberries, maple syrup, Vanilla vodka, and lavender.

You muddle it and refrigerate. To serve, put a tablespoon in the bottom of a glass and top with champagne.  I made plenty of the mixture and will try a sparkling sweet moscato next time I serve these.....probably in art class.

 Crystal has a special place in Louis Dean's heart and they recalled all their fondest memories together.

It was time for birthday cake!!

Instead of 80 candles.....Amber used an 8 and an 0.

Easier to blow out! No problem!

You can see for yourself that he was all smiles the entire time!

Mike's parents helped us celebrate. 

I love that our families are so supportive of each other.

Lynn knew how much Louis Dean loves steaks - and rib eyes at that!!

Can you see how happy he was to receive that gift??

We are so happy to have each other as we care for the quads.

Recently when Amber and Mike were on their anniversary trip, she and Jim stayed in pocket just in case Louis Dean or I got sick or something when it was our 'tour of duty', and we did the same for them.

I loved the way Harrison ate his piece of cake!

I've seen him eat a sandwich in the very same way!

The girls liked the frosting best!!

Who doesn't?

Even I took a swipe at the cocoa filling!

Harrison and Brady were best buds all night!

My super duper son in law!!!

And his amazing dad!

Logan took my camera and went around taking lots of pictures......

a Dickey's cup, color pages, the fridge, the floor, doorknobs.....

and then THIS great photo!!

I love how you can tell this way taken by a little person!

This is a cute photo.

BOTH mothers - Lynn and I were taking pictures.

In this one, Amber is looking at me and Mike is looking at his mom.

Now Mike looks at me and Amber looks at Lynn!

Hahahaha!

Louis Dean and I had a great night!

We were home and in bed before midnight.

I left LD asleep this morning while I went to church to take my turn working in the preschool department. The quads were surprised but happy to see me in their classroom!!

An afternoon of football and thankfully it was not as stressful a game as last week!

And now for the drawing for the Christmas Santa painting.

There were well over 250 entries.

I entered the name of every comment and that added up over the last few weeks.

And the winner is.........Ginny Hartzler!

Congratulations!!!

I will have this in the mail to you within the next few days!