August 1 , 2008

Written September 2

Dear Friends and Families,

Birthdays come every year, despite efforts to avoid them. This year, Marianne threw a big "surprise" party for me. I knew something was up when I said I wanted to take my birthday off work and she not only told me that I MUST work but also that I wasn't allowed home before 7pm!

When I arrived, the place was full of friends and the barn was set up as a banquet hall. For the next several hours, everyone had fun, even if it did mean being another year older.

Pictures:

	Most of the fun came from having friends around. Some were new friends, some were "established friends". On this day, I didn't want anyone called "old". The barn suited us very well, especially as the evening wore on and we shifted to candle light. We got so comfortable in our electricity-free barn, that we failed to notice that even the house electricity had gone out. Oh well, we managed to party and then, at the end of a long evening, to sleep. What else would we need?

Until the next birthday.

John and Marianne.