Where The Orange Blossoms Grow....

Hello! Welcome to the Stricklen's blog. We hope to keep our family and friends up to date with what is going on with our family. You will find a variety of experiences posted here -- you may find pictures of the never ending project of building our house, Callie helping William with his first steps, Mary studying a rare insect species, or perhaps you may be terribly bored with Molly's numerous fruit trees, berries, vegetables and rare plant pictures! Who knows what we may find Chris and CJ doing -- probably something having to do with a tractor or machine of sorts. Abby and Margaret will keep us entertained with costumes from other lands or a fairy story. Whatever we post, we trust it will lift your spirits and bring honor and glory to our Lord!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

~Flying High at 40~




~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Boy, did Daddy have the surprise of his life coming.....
In case anyone doesn't know what the "Flying High at Forty" thing is about, I'll tell y'all.

Daddy has always wanted to be a pilot, so for his birthday we got him started
on his flying lessons. We wrapped several gifts that were
"clues" to his big present. In each gift was the next gift wrapped
inside it! He seemed clueless until finally
on his last gift he read the certificate saying he had
flying lessons waiting for him!
He was so surprised! He said he never expected it :)
Mama was quite pleased finally to pull something
like this off! He has taken several lessons and
if he keeps up at the rate he is going, he will have his
pilot's license in no time!

The cake


~ Guests ~

~Buddies~
~Mrs. Tanner and Mama~
Grandmama and Grandaddy Frodge
Enjoying the BBQ
Uncle Jay and Aunt Ashley
Grandma Stricklen (Daddy's stepmother) enjoying the party but
not wanting her picture taken!
Sweet 'lil EmmaJane:)

Entertainment by
The Country Cousins!
A little bit of music:):)
Pete the banjo man:)
Margaret singing "O Susannah!"
CJ and Rosie delight us with a song.
"Hey, Rosie do you love Jesus?"
~ Fellowship ~
Telling stories
Daddy and Mr. Hahn:) 
Daddy with his great Aunt Dovie
Papa (Daddy's Grandfather) and Grandma Dot
~Daddy and his Mama~
All of Us
Happy Birthday, Daddy!!

6 comments:

Bonnie said...

That was such a fun party! I really enjoyed getting to meet and talk with some of his older relatives, who are so much like my older relatives in North Carolina.

And Chris is already having fun in the air! I think all it took was a little push and some Molly-organization to get him there! Hope he has lots of fun and learns a really useful skill!

Love,
Grandmother

Whiddon Family said...

Congratulations y'all on suprising Mr. Chris! I know that must have been hard.
Looks like y'all had a bunch of fun at the party!
Thank y'all for posting, and happy birthday Mr. Chris!
Laney

The Miller Family said...

What a fun party! It looks like Chris had a very happy birthday.

The picture of Chris and his mom is very special.

Chris, are you ready to fly up here and visit us? Robert says our driveway is long enough to land a tail-dragger on!

Love,
Katie

The Pollock Family said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MR.STRICKLEN !!! WOW, WHAT A NICE PRESENT. YOU REALLY LIKE BIG TRANSPORTATION, DON'T YOU?

HOPE YOUR SPECIAL DAY WAS EXTRA SPECIAL:)

LOVE,
THE POLLOCKS

Kitty said...

Yes Happy Birthday once again Uncle Chris. :) I'm loving all these flight lesson stories!! Very entertaining! :):-D

Love,
~Kitty~

The Dischers said...

Happy Birthday, Chris! We are Soooo glad you are finally able to achieve the nearly lifetime dream of "Flying High!" Go for it, Maverick! Before we know it, you'll be "Flying Solo."

Looks like the party was a lot of fun. Sure wish we could have been there. Glad the kids could make it.

Love,
Eddie and Beth