Project Housewife: 'Mister Red's' 82nd Celebration

So my grandfather goes by "Mr. Red" (he was a red head). The name stuck, and in some weird little way, I feel he's like his own brand or something. He drives red vehicles, he has an assortment of "Red" paraphernalia and he decided in his 70's to help turn a smallish college (whose team color is fire engine red) into a bigger college when it came to enrollment and athletics...apparently he's owning that. To me, he's just my grandad, but when I stop to think about it, he's like Ron Burgundy...kind of a big deal.

Mr. Red talks a big game, but when you make a fuss over him, he gets pretty humble...you can see in this pic. I like that.

Anyway! He's done a lot for me and I thought it'd be nice to say thank you in a way he'd appreciate it. We invited 60 of his closest friends (Sounds funny, right? I really do think he has 60 good friends. That's something! Most of us could probably count our really close friends on one hand!) I love the idea of seating a "passel" of friends at one long table and this was my chance to test it out...It was great!

There were a lot of random "toys" in the garage...some functional, others not. Thank goodness, the cannon is just for looks. Mary Cannon was named after my great-grandmother, Addie Mae Cannon (Mr. Red's mother)...and MC thinks this was purchased just for her.

We got everything set up two hours before the party and the bottom fell out. We made the best of it- cleared most of the table and played in the rain. Shortly after the downpour, the sun came out and we set everything up again! I couldn't have done all this without the help of my grandfather's super organized and thoughtful wife, Donna and Mac and all of my great-aunts/uncles and my sweet parents...oh, and the birthday boy!