V is for Valentine

NOTE: This post was started 2 weeks ago. Yes, I'm a little slow lately.

Don't ever tell us Ellermans that there is cake to be had, 'cause we'll show up at your house. Honestly, promise to feed us and we will come. And this is how we ended up at Val's birthday party. Val is MG's husband, if you've forgotten, MG stands for Momma Gwen, good friend and mentor. Val was born on February 14, hence the name Val. And no, his name is not Valentine, just Val.

So, Val, known to me as Poppa Val, since he is married to Momma Gwen, turned 70. Happy birthday Poppa Val! The pictures here are certainly not in order of party events, but rather in order of importance. We begin with cake.

PV required the help of some of his grandkids to blow out the candles, so a few gathered to do the task bestowed upon them. They waited patiently.

It took three Ingrahams to light the candles.

 And then they made a wish and blew!

And we feasted. Cole and Grady joined their buddy Jonah for a little cake eatin' at the table. As a responsible parent I felt it was my duty to taste some of the cake before the boys ate, and I tell you, it was delicious.

Jonah got wise and decided to ditch the utensils in lieu of nature's most-useful utensil. Atta boy, shovel it in.

Here somebody was checking out the crumbs that did not make it into Jonah's mouth but instead hit the floor, while us moms chatted. Why do I look up so much when I talk? Am I thinking that hard? I must be saying something incredibly profound, Holly is hanging onto every word. I ooze wisdom.

As a funny sidenote: I do have at least a few dozen pictures of my mom  and Karen making the same hand gesture when we talk.

 Brothers Andy and Chris caught up. At some point during the party I walked past these two, and they were reminiscing about their room-sharing memories. I couldn't help but wonder if our two would be good friends as adults, and if they'd remember sharing a room. And sharing everything else.

 And Andy caught a few quiet moments outside with his eldest.

And I cornered Bobbie for a picture with her girl.

Elsewhere people wore funny hats and explored new toy closets. Momma Gwen thought of everything for this party, and had the cutest Valentine favor bags for each of the kids. The bags were filled with goodies, and for the older kids those goodies included these fun balloons that you can turn into animals, hats. etc. Jamie is stylin'!

If you're concerned about Grady's cheek above, don't be. No one slapped him [though I'd be looking at his twin brother as a first suspect], he just randomly gets a red cheek. Or red ear. Another Bothma thing. We're an odd people.

It was really nice to sit back and watch people chat. Friends and family from far and near came to celebrate PV's life. I've not mentioned it yet, but PV had quite a health scare over the Christmas holidays that landed him in very bad shape in the ICU. It's been a long recovery, but he is now doing well,  and this birthday truly felt like a celebration of life. I am sure everyone felt especially thankful to have him here so all could spend time with him. That pretty lady in gray in picture 2 below is his Mrs.

Oh. There was this incredibly handsome guy there. I really hope to be at his 70th birthday party someday.