We'll Be Doing This Till Six In The Morning....

Big E's big day isn't quite here yet,
but we had to celebrate early this year.
Saturday night we had a pot of chili and a bond fire
and the family and some friends came over for
a preemptive strike on E's forthcoming birthday.

And I have some pictures to share.

We held the festivities out in the back yard by the barn.
It was warm enough when the sun was still shining when everyone first got there, but the temperatures began to drop as darkness set in.

The kids and a few of the adults road the four wheelers while it was still light outside. We go around the perimeter of our property and that makes for a nice little trail. I think one loop all the way around is 1/3 of a mile.

You can see I am still a warm blooded creature.
I didn't put on a jacket
until after dark. I don't know where my mother-in-law
found that hat Baby J has on,
but it kept his little bald head warm.

Big E's special friend and his family came over
to partake in the birthday revelry with us.

See my big pot of chili?
It went over well and everyone seems to have gone on
to live normal lives since eating it.

I just love Baby J's face in this picture.
You'll probably have to click on the picture
to get the full affect of his cuteness.

Our bond fire wasn't huge as you can see here.
But it got the job done.
We just roasted hot dogs and marshmallows there.
But really--who needed anything more
than Bell's Adequate Chili?

There were gifts.

We did our traditional pin the tail on the donkey game. It was dark and getting cold at this point and the game didn't get the attention and competition that is usually gets.

Below you see the yummy DQ ice cream cake that I forgot to set out ahead of time, so it was like a frozen brick at this point. We took it inside and I meant for everyone to partake of it there once it had softened up enough to cut. But it got put in the freezer again. So...um...would you care for a piece of ice cream cake?

Here are my father and my two brothers.

I am thinking of
all kinds of smart alleck comments
to make....but I'll refrain.

So my precious Big E will be eight years old soon.
It seems so strange to me that
these children keep getting older.
He has always been such a gentle, unique little guy.


Lloyd Dobbler often says Big E is
a little old man in the body of a boy.
He is such a nice guy.
I love him so much.
I hope he enjoyed his birthday bash.