Ken Norfleet turned 70 years old this weekend, surrounded by family, friends, and a whole lotta food. His wife, Mina's creativity shined through the gingham and grill decor that perfectly complimented the bbq theme. This party was all too fitting for Ken, who loves to cook....
The house was cleaned, the food was prepped, and the decorations were laid out by Friday evening. After months of planning, the next day would be busy but oh, so rewarding for everyone.
The grill was fired up around 6am the next morning. Ken wanted to make sure the hickory wood his friend, Kim had given him was nice and hot before he laid out the ribs and chicken, marinated and topped with his own homemade barbeque sauce.
The guests began to arrive for Ken's bbq celebration around 4pm. It was perfect timing for the food to come off the grill and everyone to dig in! (And, trust me, no one hesitated!)
The next hour or so consisted of second and third helpings of mouthwatering barbeque and sides. Then, as everyone waited for their food to settle, so they had room for desert, the quality time began. Ken's closest family, friends, and colleagues had come far and wide to celebrate this milestone with him. Stories were traded, memories re-lived, and laughs shared.
Ken thanked everyone for coming as he read his birthday cards (and a few belated father's day cards) in front of the crowd. Then, it was time for desert! An adorable bbq themed chocolate cake and delicious chocolate, vanilla, and ganache cupcakes were all compliments of Ken's daughter, Courtney.
The guests received awesome favors, including a 'carry-out box' of some of Ken's favorite candies and thier very own bottle of 'Ken's Famous BBQ Sauce'. It was the perfect personal touch!
A great time was had by everyone, and it will be a while before many of us eat that good again. That being said, Ken Norfleet: Congratulations on another wonderful year - we wish you many more! - And thanks for being the first to be 'Adorned By A Dorn'.
The grill was fired up around 6am the next morning. Ken wanted to make sure the hickory wood his friend, Kim had given him was nice and hot before he laid out the ribs and chicken, marinated and topped with his own homemade barbeque sauce.
Ken's party was supposed to be a surprise, but after months of trying to schedule around a 'secret', Mina was forced to spill the beans (not literally - the beans were fine!). So, in an effort to keep a little surprise factor intact, we snuck out around 8am to pick up a 50lb bag of peanuts (his favorite!) from a local restaurant.
The guests began to arrive for Ken's bbq celebration around 4pm. It was perfect timing for the food to come off the grill and everyone to dig in! (And, trust me, no one hesitated!)
The next hour or so consisted of second and third helpings of mouthwatering barbeque and sides. Then, as everyone waited for their food to settle, so they had room for desert, the quality time began. Ken's closest family, friends, and colleagues had come far and wide to celebrate this milestone with him. Stories were traded, memories re-lived, and laughs shared.
Ken thanked everyone for coming as he read his birthday cards (and a few belated father's day cards) in front of the crowd. Then, it was time for desert! An adorable bbq themed chocolate cake and delicious chocolate, vanilla, and ganache cupcakes were all compliments of Ken's daughter, Courtney.
The guests received awesome favors, including a 'carry-out box' of some of Ken's favorite candies and thier very own bottle of 'Ken's Famous BBQ Sauce'. It was the perfect personal touch!
A great time was had by everyone, and it will be a while before many of us eat that good again. That being said, Ken Norfleet: Congratulations on another wonderful year - we wish you many more! - And thanks for being the first to be 'Adorned By A Dorn'.
Nice! Well done. :-)
ReplyDeleteIt all started with a comment at our 2011 Thanksgiving dinner in Plant City, you know Dad(Ken) will be 70 years old this next year!! Well, that is how the initial planning process starts. A comment, the ideas, theme, guests, the where and when has now started. Everyone knows with every event it is not the day of the event that is the hard work, thats the fun part of it all, its all the planning, preparing, searching for the perfect details that takes the time. After days, weeks and of course months of planning I was blessed with Amber Lynn Dorn with Adorned Events who stepped in to save that special day. She was especially helpful with last minute errands and decorating ideas and of course the cleaning up afterwards. I can honestly say that each and everyone of us are aware that we can do things ourselves. Well, I can too, but it is especially nice to have someone by your side who knows what your thoughts and wishes are for that special day. I knew that this milestone birthday for Ken needed to be a special one and Adorned Events made sure that happened for us. Thank you so very much for all of your hard work.
ReplyDeleteMina and Ken Norfleet