Leaving his Roaring 20's behind and Rolling into his 30's

This weekend, jeff and i went to my parents lake house to celebrate his 30th birthday that is coming up next week.  he thought we were just going to be by ourselves, but i had a little something else up my sleeve...

aly suggested a "rolling into our 30's" birthday party where we leave our "roaring 20's" and roll into the 30's.  our 20's were pretty roaring, so i thought it was pretty fitting.
i told my parents and my cousin christopher about the idea and they ran with it.  (christopher is the one who did the cake for the twins party.  the guy knows how to party) together we made kind of a step-by-step surprise party and the birthday boy loved it.
so, here we go.

we went out to the lakehouse on friday after we dropped the kids off at my in laws.
we were free and easy.

then saturday morning he went hunting, and then my brothers and ben took him golfing.

after golf, ben gave jeff a box that had the 20's outfit (do boys say outfits? maybe 20's inspired clothes is better) that he needed to wear that night.
(that allison and lindsay bought at this fabulous costume shop.  they tried it on and everything)
ben had one too.  and, surprise, jeff, so did my brothers.  

they all put it on in the golf pro shop-i imagine laughing, giggling, cussing and getting more and more nervous about what was to come, the whole time.

in the mean time, we were working our tails off at my parents house.
after we had set everything up, we set outside and smoked cigars, drank champagne and waited for jeff in our own 20's attire.


this is christopher.  he and my mom helped pull this whole shindig off.






group shot before jeff, ben and my brothers arrive.

when he pulled up to my parents house, he still did not really know what in the world was going on.
 we had set up candles that led him around to the side of the house where we were all hiding.

and in he came...

in his full-on 20's suit.
he was pretty surprised to see all his friends and family.



and here's to the boys that helped pull it off.
we stayed outside smoking and drinking 20's style for a little longer (and of course both were optional).







and then it was time to eat.
we led him around the back of the house where we had set up a big table for everyone to eat authentic 20's food- on the border.  mexican food is so 20's right?
we made a curved table to fit everyone, and i am sure it was weird looking but we wanted everyone to sit together and eat family style.  like one big happy-birthday-jeff family.



we ate until we couldnt anymore, and then watched a slideshow that i made about jeff.
then the real party started.
the shades had been drawn in the house this whole time and no one had been inside yet.  after dinner and the slideshow everyone looked under their plates and found a ticket worth $500 (pretend) that they could use in the speakeasy casino we had arranged inside.
we had dealers and a bartender (james we LOVE you) and who ever had the most chips at the end of the night won a prize (TBA).
so everyone got their tickets and hurried inside to play.





we had 20's music playin', the lights dimmed, the shades drawn and dice rollin'.




we toasted him, ate some fantastic cake and then found out who the winners were.



we made these dice out of white boxes and stuffed them with koozies that said "happy birthday jeff" on them (made by hayley!) and they were the party favors for everyone to take home.  you know, "rolling" into the 30's.  like rolling the dice... you get it, i know.
and, not being people to let a party die after the casino and photobooth leave, we started a dance party.




then we all spent the night.
last hurrah of the roaring 20's for jeff and on the 23rd, he rolls into his 30's.
thank you, everyone who came fully dressed and ready to celebrate jeff.  we could not have done it without you!! we love you so so much!!
i really hope our 30's is not a great depression...