George's "Not A Surprise" 30th Birthday Party

Last night, we finally celebrated George's 30th birthday, which was Monday, February 23. I say "finally" because this was the third attempt to have a party for him. Two of my co-workers/friends put the party together, and they scheduled the first one for Oscar Night. If anyone knows George, they know this is his absolutely favorite night of the year. Several of his friends were concerned that he might not show up for his party since he'd rather watch the Oscars with the Millers or at home, so they canceled the party. Then the party almost happened on another night, but that changed due the the Connect Conference at our church. (Side note: There are some absolutely hysterical videos our department did for the conference at connect.gatewaypeople.com or at youtube.com/gatewaypeople. Watch the videos entitled "The Church." It's worth your time.)

So, "finally" they decided to do it last night. Tia, one of his close friends and co-workers who put the party together, was going to take him to the movies and then suggest that Hannah and Chip come along. They were going to stop and pick them up, but instead of going to the movies, we'd all be there to surprise him. It was a great plan ... but then Tia got very sick the night before, which is the reason it was "not a surprise" party. Hannah and I decided it would be better to just go ahead and tell him about the party. We didn't know any other surefire way to get him there.

Even though he wasn't surprised by the party, I think he was really surprised by his gift. All of his friends chipped in and got him an iTouch for his birthday.

I can honestly say that we are all better people for having George as a friend, and we were honored to get to celebrate with him ... and very relieved he realized that his friends didn't just blow off his 30th birthday!

The birthday boy with his bucket of "white" ice cream.

Opening his iTouch.