August 10-17, 2005: A Trip to Fort Lauderdale
	July 22-24, 2005: A Trip to Visit Ron and Prudence
	Return to Index for 2005

You will be seeing a number of pictures starring these attendees, so perhaps I can just run down the list:

 Fred Nabors, one of the birthday boys
 Ron, one of the birthday boys
 Myself
 Jay, Ron's partner
 Lou, our friend from Oak Cliff
 Tom, another friend from Oak Cliff
 John, Tom's partner
 Brad, the AA pilot from Grand Prairie
 Barbara Reynolds, our friend from McKinney
 Lynne, our friend from Dallas and the Arts
 Chris Young, Ron's former partner from Sherman
 Dennis, Chris's boyfriend
 Hank, Ron's friend from Allen
 Keith, Hank's partner
 Larry French, our friend from Dallas
  and
 Denny, Larry's partner

I am always thankful when Ron and Jay want to use their house for these gatherings- particularly in the summer, since they have a pool. But they also have a lot of space for people to wander around in and a pool table for all us hustlers to use. But I think they also like to host for another reason, and it is a practical one. Both of them like their Jim Beam and Coke and by hosting the party they can consume as much as they want to since they aren't faced with driving home from my house. So our tradition is that these two birthdays, and Jay's are spent at Ron's house while my own birthday party is held at mine.

Before we get to the pictures and movies, I have to apologize to Fred, who did yeoman's work in being our photographer. It was my fault that I didn't take the camera over at times to get him in some of the pictures, but at least you will see him in a couple of the movies I borrowed his camera to take.

Once everyone had arrived, I borrowed Fred's camera to take a movie and record as many of the attendees who would consent to be filmed. (Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible)

A birthday tradition- we sing "Happy Birthday" (Mouseover Image if Video Controls Not Visible)

As I said, one of the nice things about Ron's house is that they have a pool table. Ron, Jay and I are the most avid players, although Fred and John play as well. While people were arriving, Ron and I played a few games and later on John joined in. The pictures below were all taken around the pool table early on in the party, and the attendees are named from left to right. Click on the thumbnail to see the full-sized image.

Click on the Image Above to View the Slideshow

We did a bit of pool playing early on, and then while Ron was busy cooking barbecue in his smoker, the rest of us were free to sit around and talk. There is always a lot of catching up at these large parties and, although everyone already knows everyone else, not everyone sees each other with the frequency that Fred and I see just about everyone except Hank and Keith. Some people imbibe and some don't; Lynne and Barbara are usually drinking beer or wine, while Fred and I are drinking my frozen drink concoctions (which you can see me making in some of the pictures). Ron and Jay prefer Jim Beam and Coke, and so on. Before dinner was laid out we all had a good time, and that's when most of our pictures were taken.

Fred took lots of pictures, before and during dinner, and afterwards when we had cake. I have selected the best of these pictures and put them in a slideshow for you to flip through.

To view the slideshow, just click on the image at left and I will open the slideshow in a new window. In the slideshow, you can use the little arrows in the lower corners of each image to move from one to the next, and the index numbers in the upper left of each image will tell you where you are in the series. When you are finished looking at the pictures, just close the popup window.

Ron and Jay did a great dinner- smoked meats, vegetables, bread and stuff- plus all the hors d'oeuvres that he always sets out. After dinner, it was time for Ron and Fred to open their gifts, even though all the invitations specifically said "no gifts." Fred and I always exchange with Ron and Jay regardless, but other folks brought small gifts as well. The one major thing that I contributed was the cake. It is always a challenge to have it decorated for two people with different ages, so we usually fall back on candle digits. This is the only way that Fred and Ron would have the lung power to blow out their candles. Of course, they always have an incentive to blow them out quickly as that is just about the only way to stop the assemblage from singing "Happy Birthday."

The party ended up with everyone eating cake and yakking. Hank and Keith left quite early, as they usually do, and the rest of us wound up the party about ten. It was very successful, as are all the gatherings that Ron and Jay host.

You can use the links below to continue to another photo album page.

	August 10-17, 2005: A Trip to Fort Lauderdale
	July 22-24, 2005: A Trip to Visit Ron and Prudence
	Return to Index for 2005