He's HOW Old?

My little brother turned 30 on Thursday. 

It's still weird to me to think of my brothers as adults.  It's even weirder than thinking of myself as an adult.

My little brother, Chris--the middle child--was my first playmate.

We are 2 and a half years apart.

He was the daddy when we played house.

He was my student when we played school.

He was the customer when we played bank/post office/grocery store/etc.

And now he's 30.

His girlfriend, Sarah (who is also the mother of his little boy and who he has just recently gotten back together with after a six year hiatus...but that is another post), wanted to throw him a surprise party.  So she emailed me.

I didn't even hesitate!  YES!  My little brother should have a great party!  He has been through a lot in his 30 years and he is finally happy...and yes, there should be a party for that.

We got my mom and sister-in-law, Ashley involved and turned my parents' garage into party central.  My brother, Mike, Ashley, and I put up the decorations in the garage.  My dad blew up a bunch of balloons with the air compressor.

Then a bunch of Chris and Sarah's friends and family came over.  And we waited....

He was expecting a small dinner get together with Sarah's parents and our parents and my little family.  But what he walked into was everyone!  He was pretty shocked.

Chris is not a fan of being the center of attention.  He doesn't really like surprises.  But I think he was happy with this one--once the shock wore off, of course.

My mom ordered him a Dairy Queen ice cream cake...his favorite.  He was a little annoyed that we all were going to sing to him--putting him at the center of attention yet again, but we did it anyway.

And yes, we put 30 candles on that cake!  Jack helped his daddy blow them out as Sarah watched.  It was so great.

Everyone enjoyed each other's company, the yummy food and cake, and most of all, Chris and Sarah and Jack being together as a family again.

This day made me emotional and happy for so many reasons.  My little brother who I have always fiercely protected is a thirty-year old man, but also?  He has his family.  I know our family and Sarah's family have been praying for this for six years.  And now it's coming to fruition.

So I say happy birthday, little brother.  And happy family.  We love you guys very, very much!