Dad's Retirement Party

I know you have all been patiently and anxiously awaiting the photos and info on the party, so now you have to wait no more!  We pulled a good one over on Dad!  He really had no idea!  Jason and I had asked if we could host a Halloween party at Mom and Dad's home because the apartment was going to charge us a bunch of money to use the club house (this is how we got away with all the preps without having him think anything of it!)  Mom and I worked and worked for like 2 months getting everything ready... Here is the invite (it mostly went out to people at work... but it was cute none the less!)

We got Dad's manager to help with letting the guys at work know about the party.. they all kept it quiet and I guess for a bunch of guys that isn't too hard... if it was a bunch of women it would have been much more difficult!!  Nothing wrong with that... just women (myself included) tend to run their mouths!

We let all of Dad's close friends know about the party... got a great response from everyone... which is not surprising at all... seeing as though everyone loves my dad... he really is someone that people look up to... and I should know, he's been my daddy my whole life, so I have had 31 years to get to know him and look up to him and love him more each day!

My sister, Bo, did the decorating... and it was seriously cute - except for the creepy skeleton that she put in the family room - it was really nasty... scared the heck out of Lucy - she wouldn't even go in the room for about an hour, and then if she was in there, she wouldn't go anywhere near the thing.. and then there is Opie who would have torn the thing apart if we had let her in the house!  She was really mad at the creepy man!  It talked and moved and lit up - ick!! Anyway... the rest of the stuff was really adorable!  She pulled it all together nicely, which was nice for me because I suck at decorating... leave me in charge of the food and I am a happy camper!

The food was a pretty nice spread... some of the things we featured were chicken wings, little smokies in BBQ Sauce, meatballs, tortilla roll ups, sushi, veggies, sandwiches, chips and dip... apple slices with caramel dip (see the bottom of the post for that recipe and try it.. it is dang good!) eclairs, candy (it was Halloween... so there had to be some of that!) but most of all we just tried to include things that were Dad's favorites! 

As people started to arrive Dad was conveniently in the other room... so we had the first 6 people come in and sit quietly in the living room, then when the next people got there we had them ring the door bell and mom and I couldn't get the door - we were busy with nothing important - so Dad had to go get it.  He walked out and saw people there that were clearly not people I would have invited (don't get me wrong... I enjoy the people that were there, but they are all older people that wouldn't be hanging out with me and Jason!) and was a little confused... then answered the door to some more of his friends and realized that the joke was on him!  We all just said "Surprise and congrats on your retirement!"  and that got him on the right page.  It was cute though... he thought the 8 people that were there was the end of it... but oh how he was wrong!  I loved that these people... his friends... took time to come support him on Halloween night... a night that most of these people would normally be spending with their kids and grandkids... some of them even had to leave work to come over for an hour, then go back to work again... but they did this because he means something to them! 

My favorite part of the night though was when my brother showed up!  Clint was just finishing a class in California that week, and had talked to Dad that morning... Dad asked what he was going to do that night since his family was in Washington and Clint said that he and a bunch of the guys were going to go to Santa Monica (I think that is the one he picked) to get some dinner and just relax for the night.  Really what he was doing was sitting in an airport waiting to board a plane and fly out here to surprise Dad!  When Clint got there, Dad was in the kitchen with his back to the front door talking to someone... Clint walked around the corner, walked right up to him and said "Hey Dad!  I decided not to go to Santa Monica after all!" and then they just did a huge bear hug!  We were all crying... seriously... I am tearing up just remembering and writing about it!  Clint and Dad have a special kind of bond... they talk on the phone at least once a day and tell each other everything... so seeing the surprise on Dad's face for that was something that I will never forget!  Dad didn't let him go for a good 30 seconds at least... and when he did, you could tell he was choked up!  I loved it! 

Anyway... that is the gist of what happened... we had people sign a book for Dad - along the lines of what they remembered about him... we are going to have it bound with the pictures from the night... but some of the things that were in the book were pretty cool!  I have always known how amazing Dad is... he is the kind of man that will bend over backwards for you... in a snow storm... while standing in 8 feet of snow... to take the shirt off his back and the shoes off his feet if that is what you needed from him.  He has always gone out of his way to help anyone in need... he finds the best in everyone and tries to focus on just that... he is a patient and thorough teacher... has an incredible smile that can lift your spirits in a jiffy... and gives the best Dad hugs I could ever imagine!  I can only hope that he will now understand, in some small way, the impact he has on those around him!  Love you, Daddy!

Caramel Apple Dip (really, this is good on any fruit, but just goes naturally with Apples!)
8 ounces cream cheese (do NOT go low fat on this... it needs to be the original to taste good)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Toffee bits (optional)
mix the above together with an electric mixer... then enjoy with your fruit.  I'm not kidding... you will get addicted... I had about 10 people ask me for the recipe at the party!