Photos care of Mr. Allen – be sure to check out his new hobby and website: daveandjanallen.net.
Jeannette made a quick trip out to Seattle to see Becky’s commencement for her MBA (yay Becky!). It was gorgeous Saturday, The Mountain was out (our grandparents’ have an amazing view).
We flew back to Seattle to surprise Dad for his retirement party. Only Ma knew. So we also got to surprise Becky, Grandpa, GrandDad, Grandma, Uncle Bob and Aunt Dee! We had great fun! We actually needed a place to rest our tired bodies and party prep after we sat on the tarmac that morning for 3 hours (pilot slept through his alarm) so we went to Grandma and GrandDad’s before the grand unveiling at the party and surprised them and Aunt Dee early at the house.
Check out more photos after the jump!
And check out my pop’s new hobby: http://www.daveandjanallen.net/
Happy Birthday to Josh! Thanks everybody for helping us celebrate his birthday, even from so far away!
Josh’s actual Birth Day. (Not really, this is a few days later… after the blizzard of ’78 was over and Josh & Judi could go home.) So this is George, Big Brother Thadd & Josh:
Baby Josh & the Fam:
Here Josh says, “I am 4!” (I wanted to put a pic with Shan in! Jackie & Grandma & Grandpa Mates are helping to celebrate the big FOUR.)
Here Josh says, “I am 4 (x 8)!” Ha.
Becky got this awesome Celtics green tee for Josh!
And now Josh won’t be so cold with these great gifts from Mom & Dad!
And these South Africa guidebooks will be so useful! Thanks again Mom & Dad!
Watch out Dave! Josh is going to beat you in shuffleboard now! (Thanks Mom & Dad Allen!)
Manhattan is thrilled for Josh’s birthday.
As is Magellan.

Thanks again for the gifts and cards and phone calls and texts and Facebook wall posts. It was a great birthday. We finished it off playing Josh’s new Wii game (the shuffleboard and darts are our new favorites!), and cooking a great dinner that was made even better thanks to a Christmas gift from Shan – Argentinian wine, carted across the globe in her backpack! A great way to celebrate 32 years.