Valentine's Gala and more!

Friday we had my family birthday dinner at Jax Cafe...

Then, on Saturday the Thomberg's headed west for the Tim Orth Memorial Foundation Valentine's Gala. We stayed at Mike and Laura's. Cousin's Mikayla and Mariah babysat the trio of toddlers, while the parents were out dining & dancing at the Bird Island Ballroom.

My cousin LeAnne helps to coordinate the gala, and we had a fantastic time.

Brett and Rachel attended the first time event last year too.

Here are some of the ladies...

The BI Ballroom has seriously never looked more beautiful! There was a ventriloquist and DJ for entertainment, after the dinner of chicken and ribs.

I have YEARS of memories of the BI Ballroom, from weddings with Polka Bands when I was little, to weddings as an adult (30 plus years of turkey, mashed potatoes, and corn at long banquet tables in rows), to paying at the door for Shaw Band and Johnny Holmes in high school and college.

One staple at the BI Ballroom is dancing to "Fishin' in the Dark". Of course the song was a crowd pleaser late on Saturday.

Set Ups! (If you are from a small town/country you know exactly what this means. If you are from the metro, you may have no idea.) The ballroom only has a 3/2 liquor license, which means you can bring your own bottle, then purchase the cola, tonic, etc. to set it up.

Notice the green drink in the plastic cup on the right... There was a machine with Grasshoppers in it! Who can beat this old school, ice cream, supper cluby, after dinner, cream de mint delight!

After the gala, we stopped for last call at the Other Place in Hector. Back at home, Laura surprised me with a Bunny Wolf poppy seed birthday cake! I was thrilled. THANK YOU Laura!

We wrapped up Valentine's weekend with a heart shaped pizza for supper on Sunday. My dad came by too.