Trite, but true! Daryl and I have been very fortunate to make so many friends in our 15 years or so in Chilliwack, and we've never had a house big enough to invite them all over at once.
So for our mutual 40th birthdays we rented the Camp River Hall, just up a confusing bunch of winding roads from us, and invited people from all our many circles of friends. There was Lillian, who Anne met the first week she started working at UCFV when her boss set them up in a landlord-tenant relationship (and the friendship clicked immediately). There were folks we barely knew, having made their acquaintance recently through soccer or friends of friends.
And there was everyone in between, from UCFV, from the East Chilliwack community, from soccer, from Agassiz, from Rosedale, and from our crazy bunch of miscellaneous cool people we've met in our adventures. There were token family reps -- Mike, Karen, and Ava (thanks for making the trek!) -- and our old pal Iain from our semi-wild youth. There were two married couples who Anne and Daryl helped matchmake and some children who resulted.
Talk about children! Good thing it stopped pouring rain and we could pour them out the door! Anne had grabbed the bubble stuff from home at the last minute, not believing but hoping that the deluge would stop. Her friend Cheryl kindly picked up glowsticks and a pinata from Superstore. Throw in a soccerball and 40 or so kids were amused for hours.
Daryl's meticulously planned "groove it" and "move it" playlists set the mood for the evening. Everyone's food and the beautiful cakes kept gave us sustenance. The friendly bartender kept Anne supplied with greyhounds and seabreezes so she didn't get too thirsty with all that carousing.
Skits, dancing, and the great hodge podge of throwing all our friends into one big pot and finding out who knew whom and watching new conversations start were all part of the fun.
Miles embodied the spirit of the evening, throwing himself fully into the fun, whether it was bubble blowing, pinata bashing, random chasing, "move it, move it" dancing, or leading us in a joyful impromptu "chicken dance" conga line. Molly and Emma were hardly seen all night as they joined in the kid mob revelry.
Thanks to Ruby for the cake, Cheryl H and Ruby for the decorations, Cheryl H for last-minute supplies, Lydia and Ruby and Verna and Sondra for the skits, Jack for painting the red hats, Katie, David, and Pam for the babysitting, Susan T for the photography, Sue GH for the speech, everyone for the food, everyone for cards and presents, everyone for coming and making it a great time, and Zoe, Bradley, Vicki, and Iain for sticking it out until the very end with us!
