THEY SAY IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!

Birthdays are a BIG deal in our family.  My dad is REALLY into celebrating birthdays, and my mom always does a fantastic job of making it a grand event, complete with decorations, balloons, and an amazing cake of some kind (Ice cream cake for this girl). Naturally, with this as my example, I can't help but LOVE birthdays. Last Saturday, this little chipmunk face turned 29 years old:

I love that this little face turned into this handsome man:

We decided to get small group together and celebrate his day of birth with our favorite pastime.....

BOWLING! What else is there!? 

Before we left we took some pictures to get us in the party mood.

All of our kindred spirits were there, and we took the opportunity capture the memories:

 My dad gave his 'son-in-law and one of his best friends' a very sweet toast that we all heartily agreed with. The next day, I was kicking myself for not remembering to sing "For he's a jolly good fellow" at the top of my lungs like they do in old movies!

He was so focused when he made his wish, he even closed his eyes. 

 And let the bowling fun begin!!

 Mack you look like you're saying: "NO! Don't take a  picture! At least wait until it's a strike!" 

Hey you nailed that one pin! 

Christian was not pleased with his bowling at that moment.

However, I have perfect form:

You'd think having perfect form would ensure strike after strike....I can assure you, it does not. 

One of my all time faves, Gretchen, I think my mom said: "Girls! Turn and smile!" which is why this photo has that awkward feel to it. We were actually having an in-depth conversation that solved at least 3 of the world's problems before this candid shot, you're welcome.

Love this girl. She might be one of the sweetest, prettiest, nicest people on the planet. Hi, Amber!

Can you see the butterfly tattoo on my hand? It FINALLY came off today, maybe because I showered?

And these two....

best friends for life. 

We had to include the sibling shot (minus Andrew who is away at college *tear)

Chris and his pretty sister, Amanda:

They don't look like they could be related at all!! Just kidding, they totally do. 

Even in her candid: "I'm sorry! Were you talking to me?" pose, Gretchen looks faboosh. 

The conversations were flowing, 

As well as the good times:

Hi girls! Love the shirt, Whit!

Finally, I was able to herd all the cats into place for a picture with the birthday boy:

Girls too:

Are you wondering if Chris had a great time? 

I think that can be answered by this picture:

The birthday King has surveyed the land, and is quite pleased with his birthday celebration.