Halfway Dead

My brother, Mike, turned 40 in January. His wife, Audra surprised him with an awesome party. The party theme was based off of the movie, "Defending Your Life". The basic idea was that Mike had died and he would have to go through a trial to be judged. If the judge ruled in his favor, he would get to advance to heaven, if not, he would have to go back to earth and to live his life again and try to make better choices the second time around.

My brother-in-law Matt made an awesome coffin.

My dad was the judge.

Audra's parents, Gerald and Lorna were the bailiff and the court clerk.

Sarah was the prosecuting attorney and Audra was the defending attorney. They each took turns calling witnesses (his friends and family) who would share stories from Mike's life. It was hysterical and Mike totally squirmed in his seat.

Rick shared a funny story when he was being questioned by the prosecuting attorney. The first time Mike ever met Rick, the first thing he asked him was, "What's your favorite Bette Midler song?" Rick's answer, "Uh, I don't really have one."

Then Mike said, "Good you're not gay."

Of course the prosecuting attorney ate this up and was able to spin it to make Mike look bad. Then Rick pulled out some very incriminating evidence to make it even worse: A framed, autographed photo of Bette Midler. It said, "Mike, you truly are the wind beneath my wings. Love, Bette." Rick claimed he found it upstairs while using the bathroom.

Did we plant the autograph? Nobody will ever really know.

After all of the witnesses were questioned, Mike has the opportunity to defend himself...

After the attorney's gave their final statement, the judge made his decision.

And the verdict was...

Guilty! Mike was sentenced to go back to earth and live his life all over again.

Apparently my Dad didn't get the memo because I'm pretty sure the plan was to send him to Heaven.

Gwen was so cute on the car ride home. She wanted to have her photo taken with her "friends." (The trains)