Dad's 60th Birthday

I have been anticipating my dad's 60th birthday this whole year, as many people know I highly esteem my father so I really wanted it to be something special where lots of people could shower him with love.  I sent out a bunch of invitations with Dad's superman picture and forced my siblings to all take assignments to bring to the party, and even though it was inconvenient for some, we held the party on his actual birthday (a weeknight) at Canyon Glen--where I remember going as a child with his parents--even though it winded and rained on us some and people had to work and couldn't get there til 6:00 ish.

Alan's turning 60! Come celebrate with us: Canyon Glen 4:00-9:00 July 9th

Dad said he only wanted family invited, so I didn't invite close friends even though I was tempted to. I had this "living funeral" in mind where all people he has ever known could come and celebrate his life, but Dad is too humble to want that. He doesn't want anyone singing his praises, he just wants to have fun. So I invited only Rapleyes and Terrys and Barretts, which if anyone knows the size of my extended family is close to 100 people, and had a great turn out! I'm so grateful for those who came. I felt like it was a great success.

I spent most of the morning preparing food and went to the pavillion at 2:00 that afternoon to make sure it was ours and to heat up the 15 pounds of pulled smoked pork (that never ran out!) and a crock pot full of beans. I also made 20 lbs of baked potatoes with potato bar toppings, cut up watermelon, had 120 rolls (which did run out), and a bunch of lettuce--way too much--for salad.  I hauled water jugs, ice, balloons, and signs all by myself because Savanna and Weston were laying on the blanket in the shade sick and worthless, Fiora helped a little, but Jared was swamped at work.  It was a day dedicated to my dad, I was honored to be able to serve our family, but really did it all for him. Holly made a strawberry custard cake, Heidi came early and set up a large volley ball/badminton net (and we played badminton with the kids while we waited for guests to show up, the only fun break I had all day and I loved it!), Jesse brought plates forks spoons cups napkins, and Justin brought fruit shishkabobs and a watermelon carved like my dad's face! Rachel drew a happy birthday banner, which the wind knocked down, but it was darling.  My mom brought 6 bundt cakes that people in the ward had made for Bishop Barrett, because every time someone made a bundt cake for a ward event my dad would say "Can you make me one of these for my birthday?" and they took him serious.

Before Wes got too sick, he and Trevan played in the river like Huck Finn and then played badminton "shirts vs skins"

 

Savanna in a moment when she felt some energy

People enjoying he food, we never ran out of pork, miracle!

I made my dad wear a super dad insignia and a superman cape.

 

93 year old gma Rappleye

Cute Knightly

Cute Penny

Mom determined to light 60 candles in the wind

 I have the gift of the written word, but I lack the gift of the spoken word, so when it came time for me to present the "Memoirs of Dad Alan" book to him, I stumbled and blundered through an brief and awkward delivery of how much we love dad and why.  It wasn't really what I wanted to say but hopefully the spirit of it came through. Dad loved his memoir book at any rate.  If I could re-give an eloquent speech for dad it would go like this:
I am so grateful to be Alan Barrett's daughter, he is truly one of the greatest men I've ever known, and that's because he doesn't profess to be great at anything! His humility only enhances my high esteem for him, and if the "least are the greatest" my dad is a perfect example of the greatest. He was born in humble conditions, to humble parents, who loved him greatly and worked hard, but never aspired to much, and Dad grew up always feeling like he wasn't very smart. My dad is very smart, no he doesn't have  PhD and hasn't published anything noteworthy, but he has a love of history and reads great historical books; he can't spell that well and gets his words mixed up, but he has a great memory and a natural teaching ability. He has never been a CEO or earned millions of dollars, but is a talented accountant and business man despite his lack of schooling in that subject and is a dedicated employee. He is honest, faithful, and patient--yes patient! He is one of those men who was willing to have ten children, saying with every pregnancy "The Lord needs a righteous home to send his children to," and helped his wife cook for them, get up in the night with them, let the kids crawl in his bed, and mess up his house, and he straightened up after them, and tried to talk though moodiness and emotional outbursts! He still does this with his 14 grandchildren. He has the highest emotional intelligence of any man I have yet to meet, sensing immediately if something is wrong and trying to empathize in a caring manner.  He has a great love for people, and knows how to make people laugh, and can ease the tension in an awkward moment effortlessly. One of the character traits my siblings wrote in his memoir book is that "Dad always apologizes after every outburst."  He loses his cool now and then, (for reasons I generally understand perfectly), but he never tries to deny his wrong, cover up his mistake, or justify his behavior; instead he apologizes.  It is so much easier to avoid making a mistake in the first place than it is to admit your wrong straightaway and apologize, yet my dad has the humility and strength to not only try his best to be patient in the first place, but when he is upset and "an angry man" he admits it!  In this he has set a great example to his children, I apologize when I have acted in an offensive way even though its hard to do and I felt totally justified in my behavior, because my dad showed me that a relationship is more important than being right, and you preserve a relationship by loving someone enough to apologize. My mom has to live with him and I don't, so she has dealt with more of his imperfections than I have, I don't think my dad would want anyone to think he is without imperfections, she may be thinking right now, "That sounds like a nice man to be married to."  Just kidding, my mom is also very humble and loving and has set a great example by unconditionally loving Dad for 38 years, so I know she would agree with most of this. From my perspective, I see a man with the potential of an eternal King, and I would have put a crown on his head and a golden scepter in his hand if he would let me, but as it is I will have to settle for this Superman cape and the DA insignia. DA you may know originally stands for Discovery Academy where dad worked for 20 years, but I changed it to Dad Alan, Daring Al, Dedicated to the Almighty; and when he dies, I think he will go very much like the superman picture on the invitation...looking joyful and happy with fun in his core, straight to his Father in Heaven and Savior whom he has labored diligently all his life to serve. So Dad, here is your memoir book I put together for you, so you could read what people would say about you when you do graduate from this life to the next. Love Heather