As many of you know, we had a little "baby shower" down in San Diego this weekend.  Baby shower being code word for a carefully orchestrated surprise Baldridge family birthday party for Dan.

The idea got started (as my brother, Dean, noted in his roasting comments) two years ago when my Dad's first wife, Pat, gave (what she thought was) her final 50th birthday party for Dean.  She commented that she was done and Dan piped up with the idea that since his name began with "D" (as do the 4 Baldridge boys' names) and since he'd been in the family quite a long time, he deserved a party, too.

Enter Pat, Donna and I.  I asked.  Pat hosted.  Donna did the work (along with help from the next generation, Deanna, our niece...and nephew Matt's girlfriend, Erin).  Dad and Sally conspired so that it looked like Sally was taking me to a baby shower and Dad was taking Dan out to dinner to pass the time.

Dan was completely surprised (Woohoo!) and a festive time was had by all.  Unfortunately, my hands shook too much (a little excitement!) to take really decent photos...I'll weed through them (and fix my photo program) and post them later.

Happy 50th Dan...and congratulations on being part of our wacky clan for nearly 28 years! 

(Full disclosure:  This email is about Dan.  I know I have been given a "my life is not blog fodder" directive by said person but in this case, an exception was warranted.  IMHO.)

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