Happy 40th Birthday John!

Uncle Gary had called John and invited him and his wife, Jenny-Jenny-O, to come over to his house for a quiet get together on Saturday the 13th of September but John said that they already had plans that night. Gary nonchalantly said, "OK, how about the following Saturday?". The fact of the matter was that Uncle Gary and Jenny-Jenny-O had been conspiring for about a month and had already made plans for a surprise party on the 20th. Uncle Gary naturally knew that John and his family were going to be busy on the 13th and therefore have to schedule the following week. John said, "Sure, we don't have any plans for the 20th, we should be able to make it". John's 40th birthday had come and gone on September 18th and he thought that "turning 40" quietly was the best way to do it. Little did he know that e-mail messages, phone calls and an announcement at the Council Meeting were all taking place behind his back! As Aunt Sandy would say, "We played him like a fiddle"!

The crew gathered at Uncle Gary's house and by 7:30 everyone was ready and waiting for the "Birthday Boy" to arrive at 8:00. Plans were made for Jenny-Jenny-O's mother and father to watch their baby at John's house. As soon as John left the house, Jenny-Jenny-O's mother called to say they were on the way!

	John's brother Dave and mother Jane were eagerly waiting for the birthday boy to arrive. It was really like "old home week" having them back in the neighborhood for they used to live just around the block.

John's brother Jim was also happy to be in on the big surprise back in the old neighborhood. He brought his son Ben who did a great job acting as the look out by hiding in the front bedroom with the lights out, peaking out the window.

	Aunt Sandy, Buck and Capt'n Dickie came upstairs from the party in the basement to greet John when he came in. As a matter of fact, Buck was the photographer that captured most of these great pictures!

Steve, Dave, Amy and Tracy were ready too for the big surprise! Jennifer, Jeff, Ronnie, Denise and Tyler were also on hand for the big event and ready to greet John when he arrived. When Ben shouted "Their here", Uncle Gary went out to greet John and Jenny but really used the opportunity as a diversionary tactic to allow Jenny-Jenny-O to get in the door first!

	Why Uncle Gary was so interested in the two liter of Diet Squirt that he brought was really strange to John but he quickly forgot about it as they went in the front door.

Surprise! As you can see, John's face turned as red as his shirt when he saw all of his family and friends gathered together to wish him a Happy 40th Birthday! Move your mouse over the picture for a close up.

	Not knowing what to do or say, John was speechless!

John was amazed to see the Happy Birthday banner with a picture of him when he was Tyler's age. It was hard for him to remember back that far!

	Tyler had been in on the surprise from the beginning and was thrilled to pull one over on his Dad. Jenny-Jenny-O had dropped of the Birthday Cake along with some snacks on Friday and all had gone according to plan. John never knew what hit him!

As John made his way in to the dinning room, it looked like he was going to give Capt'n Dickie a big hug! But Dickie usually has that effect on everyone.

	The party moved down in to Uncle Gary's new~old basement for this is the house that Gary had grown up in. Years before John, Gary, Ronnie, Dave and a host of others had played with Lego, HO gauge trains and enjoyed a lot of great times in this basement. John's 40th Birthday Party marked the beginning of a new era for Uncle Gary's basement with many more good times to come!

With Jeff & Tracy on the couch, John and the crew paused for a quick group photo to commemorate the occasion.

John gave Gary a look that seemed to say, "I'll get you for this"!

	Dave really, really, really liked Denise's cheese ball!


Why is it that The Capt'n, Aunt Sandy and Buckie always look like their up to no good when everyone else's back is turned?

	A big Uncle Gary "Thank You" to Amy, Denise and Jennifer who made three different varieties of Jell-O shots for the party, they were great! Denise also made not one, but two of her world famous cheese balls that were a big hit and quickly disappeared.

Although a little late (but right on time according to Jeffie time) and appearing rather stately, Jeffie and his wife Sharon were able to make it to the very first party to be held in Uncle Gary's new~old basement.

	Jeffie proudly welcomed John to the 40 and over senior club after watching the special Happy 40th Birthday presentation that Uncle Gary made.

Tracy taught Dickie how to play bumper pool by beating him unmercifully. Dickie, however, said that the table wasn't level and one of the big highlights of the evening for the over 40 crowd was leveling up the table!

	Everyone got in to the act. John then realized that this was just like an episode of "Hank Hill" and asked if this was the type of fun that he could look forward to now that he was old? Yep!

Just another party for ol' Rob who thought he would tone it down a little. After all, this was John, the world famous and internationally known billionaire Playboy's big 40th birthday party so he really didn't want to drink to much. All he wanted to do was sit back, relax, wish John a Happy Birthday, visit with his friends and watch Uncle Gary's Stevie Ray Vaughan DVD.