Saturday, July 25, 2009

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today, we celebrated my dad's 62nd birthday with a backyard barbecue.

Here are Ches, Mark, Marc and Jojo manning the grill. These guys did a great job because the food was excellent.

Atsi and I stayed inside where it was nice and cool.

Dad would have loved what we had for dinner tonight. I am sure of it! We had barbecued chicken and beef short ribs, sweet corn on the cob, and grilled garlic bread. We also had a salad of mixed greens with lemon-poppy dressing. This was my plate ... YUM!

Every year, on his birthday, dad would have multiple parties to celebrate his special day. This year was no different. He had a big party in our home in Manila last night and a smaller one with us here tonight. Over dinner, we reminisced about dad and we all agreed that he was definitely celebrating with us. After all, dad loved a good meal and was always the life of any party. I am sure he could not resist stopping by a party that was thrown especially for him!

Happy birthday, Father-bear! I know you are having a really big celebration up there. I am sure you are having a blast. You go ahead and enjoy yourself.

Love and miss you so much =)

9 comments:

leslie ty said...

i know UNCLE JAMES is happy and very proud of his children =)

Happy Birthday Uncle James!

mom said...

We did have a wonderful birthday celebration for your dad here at home last night. About 50 of his closest friends and family members came. We started with a Mass in our terrace and we all offered prayers for your dad. I know he must have been so very happy. Also for the first time we had a party here in the house with my doing no cooking at all. All the food was prepared by friends who wanted to honor your dad by preparing themselves the food that he was very fond of. Believe me the the spread they prepared was very lavish and ABUNDANT! After we had all eaten our fill almost everyone went home with a doggie bag of party food. It was a most lovely evening reminiscing about your dad with the people who knew him well and loved him the most. Indeed your dad was a good man as seen from the great number of people who came to show and share how much he meant to them. Thank you too to you and Jenny, Jojo, Mark, Marc and Chester for celebrating your dad's day. No doubt he enjoyed both our parties from both sides of the globe.

Junarakasa said...

Hi Les and mom! Just wanted to say thanks for being such avid readers of my blog and always making it a point to leave a comment. To be honest, another reason I stopped blogging for a while is cause I was afraid I would miss dad's comments. He would never fail to leave a comment in each and every blog entry I would write. Nowadays, I appreciate so much the comments you guys leave every time I have a new post. I know dad is reading this too but since he can't leave comments, he's sent me the two of you to make sure someone does. =)

joyeee said...

Happy Birthday Dad! I know, just like what you said, he's having a great party up there too!:) Miss and love you too!

Junarakasa said...

HI Tibs, thanks for also being such an avid reader of my blog. Couldn't continue doing this without you! =)

Auntie Alice said...

Hi Joanne. We indeed had a great celebration too on your dad's birthday, like what your mom said, we had so much food and can you imagine, we even had balut?
We all had fun but missed him so much, but we told ourselves that he was just around celebrating with us.
He is such a good man and well loved by many.
I enjoy your blog so much that it's the first thing I open when I sit in front of my computer.
Keep it up!

Auntie Lillian said...

Joanne, your food looked delicious . I'm glad that you were able to get together to celebrated your dad's birthday. I'm sure he is there with you in spirit - after having fun at the bash in your Manila home. Uncle Jr. and I are still saddened that he is gone - that we won't see him when we go home in August. But God must need him more. Happy Birthday James.

Junarakasa said...

Thanks Auntie Alice for your support and for taking care of my family. I am hearing from my mom that you are Joy's marketing manager! =) Haha. We really appreciate all your help and for being there for all of us =)

Auntie Lillian, I never thought of it that way ... but I like it. You are right, God needs dad more =)

Jojo_LYF said...

We will miss Dad dearly and Auntie Lillian insight is nice to hear.