Birthday Pary Success

Ryan's birthday party was so much fun to prepare for and even more fun once all of the people showed up! We had a full house and a beautiful night for it. We watched the games and were entertained by the kids and Sammy. We got to catch up with friends and family who traveled from Richmond and to see friends we haven't seen in a while. We never did pull out the games but there were so many people to catch up with we didn't even think of it.

I tried some new food for this party. I am known for having a narrow perspective on food but I am trying to branch out. My mom and I tried out my Grandma's kifles recipe and it was a huge success. We had way too many desserts but for once I actually made about the right amount of food so that was nice.

For those who were interested, the kifles recipe is:
Mix 4 cups flour, 1 lb butter, 4 egg yolks, 12 oz Philadelphia cream cheese
Make little balls and put in the fridge overnight to chill (small than the size of a donut hole)
After rolling out (the thinner the better) and adding less than a teaspoon of the desired filling, roll into the shape of a crescent roll and slitting three holes on the top with a knife, bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until only lightly golden on the bottom.

Here are some pictures of the decorations, the first picture is of some of the old pictures of Ryan and his family that I put up around the house:

This second one is of the timeline I put up as a conversation starter:


Since I had to pan out to get it all here are the milestones:
1985: Shocked his mom when he turned out to be a boy
1987: Met his future sister-in-law for the first time and threw grapes at her
1988: Built a "super car" at his Grandma's out of special materials(You'll have to ask him about that)
1990: Made multiple attempts to count to 400 on a 4.5 hour trip to Grandma's
1995: Became an Uncle for the first time
1997: Moved to a new house (His Grandparent's were the original owners); Started Civil Air Patrol
1998: Started working for his Dad's HVAC company
1999: Started JROTC; Bought and started fixing up his 1969 Mustang
2001: Started playing football for Hayfield High School; Started dating his lovely high school sweetheart
2002: Joined the Army Reserve
2003: Graduated Hayfield Secondary School; Graduated Bootcamp and AIT at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO
2005: Graduated Airborne School, Got Engaged
2006: Got Married, Started Interning for Army Test and Evaluation Command
2008: Became Samson's Dad; Graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University; Got his dream job at Army Evaluation Command
2009: Got commissioned in the Army Reserve
2010: Gearing up for his first deployment

Here are some good shots of Ry and I and the nieces and nephews. For other pics you'll have to look at my facebook album or our picture webpage since there are a lot of good shots of our guests.
Ry opening his gift from his older brother. This was payback for the Ensure that Ry got him for his 40th birthday. Baby food that we will be donating somewhere because we won't have need for it anytime soon (sorry Mom).
We were so thankful we got to see our nieces since we missed them at Christmas. They are growing up so fast. They even watched some of the kids in the basement for a bit to give the adults a break. We are looking forward to seeing them again soon for snow tubing adventures.
Love the faces this child makes. Carter was a great sport even past his bedtime. Sammy is in love with him and he'll be even more fun now that he took his first steps yesterday. He is growing up way too fast! I can't believe he'll be one in just two and a half months.
Our other nephew jumping on the bed with one of Ry's co-workers kids. They were having way too much fun! Can you tell that we love having kids around?! They bring so much joy to our lives.
Sammy and I were exhausted by the time the last guests cleared out around 1. It was so much fun preparing everything but it had been a long week with my internship and finishing up my winter break to-do list.