Barb's 70th Birthday Party!

A celebration of life
Some of the little ones

Barb wanting to replay the memory of smashing a bowl of ice cream on Ranse's head

Barb and the "Ladies Man"

Jenny Klopp and the "Ladies Man"

Marge and the "Ladies Man"

Marilyn, Barb, Judy and Brian looking at old photos

Pearl and once again the "Ladies Man" haaaaaaaa

Heather looking a lot like Grandma in her younger years

Kristin and Sydney

Michael and Ranse

Jenny, Debbie, Kori, David and me(looking like a dork!)

Taylor and Gale

Brian's turn on the microphone

Ranse teasing his mom as usual

Brad sharing his funny memories of Barb

Barb completely enjoying herself

Darin singing "Joseph"

Barb opening her gift from the family(picture of the grand kids)

Barb blowing out ALL 70 candles!

Earlier in the year, Barb requested a 70th birthday bash. All of the kids got together and planned out what we thought, would be a nice celebration of Barb's wonderful 70 years. Ranse of course loved to tease her and had her completely believing that her party was going to be a "roast" and she was in for it. All along, the plan was to make it something special and memorable. I think we were able to pull it off.

About 50 of Barb's closest friends and family were able to join us as we gathered at the church. The evening consisted of a slide show of Barb over the years while Kristin played Clair de Lune on the piano(one of her and Ron's Favorites). Brian read a poem that Ron had written for Barb on one of their anniversaries, Darin sang "Joseph"( a song Ron loved to sing), and Ranse played the harmonica. After all the sentimental stuff, the microphone was open for people to share some of their favorite memories of Barb. It started off all nice, but once Brad got the mic, it was over and all the boys had to join in and share some of their favorite funny stories about their mom. It was great:)

Paul came and played all the good oldies that Barb grew up listening to and she got to show off her dance moves with Ben McClaughlin. As you can tell by looking at the pictures, Paul was there enjoying all the ladies. I had to add those pictures, I thought it was too funny ;)

Happy Birthday was sung and Barb got to blow out the huge ball of flames. One of her special gifts was a photo of all her grand kids that she absolutely loves! We also collected peoples favorite stories of Barb and made a memory book for her. The evening was finished off with all the fixing's for banana splits. Oh, actually the party went on until 11 p.m., once it cleared out a little, Kori Harris jumped on the mic. and did a little karaoke. Hilarious!! Then the boys gathered around the piano, while Kristin played and sang songs from the hymn book.

Thanks to everyone for making Barbs 70th a night she'll cherish for years to come!