40th Birthday Bunco

Last night was so much fun. As I mentioned earlier, John requested a Bunco Party to celebrate his 40th. From start to finish, it was a riot - and oh so honoring to John. He felt very blessed, as he deserved to feel.... This particular poster was put together compliments of Mark and Amy's son, Andrew.
Mark and Amy went above and beyond in hosting the event. Each person had a scorecard Amy designed that had all different pictures of John - as well as Table Number Cards that had special pictures of him. Having her and Mark simply offer their house and re-arrange their furniture for 8 different Bunco tables was a big deal without all of the extras!

The beauty of Bunco is that you are constantly being mixed-up with different people. Starting out with someone you pick, then at the next table, taking them with you, but having a different person as your partner - and on and on. Funny how on a game of "pure luck" you really do feel like you can have a good night or a bad night. For me it was a good number or a bad number. Unfortunately, Mike Whitty (Linda's neighbor and Brayden's coach) had an all-around bad night - winning the prize for the most losses. (You can see his anguish in this picture).
It's pretty clear here that Travis and Randy are a pair - and obviously felt victorious:

Dave's necklace was for earning a "Travel" - when you roll 3 of a kind that is not for the number you are going for. That thing gets thrown around constantly as folks yell out "Travel" and hold on to it for a few seconds until someone else yells for it....

Not pictured in this group shot are Stephanie H. (who had to leave early) and Michele who was off saving the day by grabbing my camera at home with video function. Everyone is especially smiley because Brayden was the one pressing the button to take the pictures - the camera was set on a tri-pod. He took his roll with all of the fun kookiness Brayden has to offer, constantly snapping away and giving funny facial expressions that had everyone matching with their own.

Next came the award ceremony, with special prizes set just for John - a Starbucks basket, Coldstone Creamery gift card, "Close-Up" toothpaste highlighting his constant smile... and.....

The prize given to Mike for being the "Biggest Loser" - a stereo that looks like it was plucked straight from a vehicle. This has a double meaning - one in reference to Riles Audio, the stereo installation business he owned when we were married, and the second to his "Pre-Christian" days, when he was a very naughty boy and did some "stereo lifting" from vehicles to supplement his income. (No question as to where he aquired the skills to start his own business, he just did things in reverse - installed vs. removed!)

Marjie earned the "Citrus Basket" - significant because John is allergic to all things citrus - it will cause huge cold sores around his mouth.....

And, here is the highlight of the evening. A surprise to all of us, Dave wrote a song for John (inspired just yesterday afternoon) and brought his guitar to share it with everyone. Thanks to Michele, we were able to catch the second half on video, and I'm still trying to figure out how to get that uploaded. Needless to say, it was VERY SPECIAL - John was absolutely overwhelmed at that point with all of the love and attention he'd received.



And here, in one of my least favorite posted pictures of myself, was the presentation of John's birthday cheesecake.

The final picture shows Michele grinning about the card she gave John - let me just say that if you have watched the "ED" commercials (think male medical problem) and you happen to hear the warning given "if it should last longer than 4 hours...." - well, that was the gist of the card - hilarious!