The surprise was actually for my mom. Her 60th birthday is on the 19th and we wanted to help her celebrate... So we were able to keep plans quiet for 8 months (even with everyone together at my cousin's wedding -- Aunt Ruth almost slipped, but recovered nicely). It was fun to sneak 4 of her 5 sisters into town without mom's knowledge. Dad was able to get mom to the restaurant without suspicion (well, without much suspicion that is). The best part of the night was as mom entered into the banquet hall; she saw us (the kids) 
and gave a nice smile -- you could tell she was happy to see us and happy that we would try and surprise her (she had a feeling we wanted to do 'something'), BUT then we turned on the remaining lights and that is when she saw her sisters. As you can see from the picture, she was overwhelmed. It was a priceless moment! Worth all the work, effort and 'issues' we had with planning this party.There is too much to tell, but one side story is that mom had a number of friends in town for a convention and she kept opening her home for guests. I spent numerous nights tracking people down and informing them they could NOT stay at her house due to the surprise party and the number of family coming into town. It was a great weekend.
The 'sisters' were able to catch up and got to watch mom's 8mm films which we had turned into a DVD. The film had mom and dad's wedding, some early vacations and a couple of Christmas' with the Baldwin Clan (mom's family).We spent a lot of time on Saturday at Jamie and Melissa's house, my brother and
sister-in-law. They have a new home and were kind enough to let us all come over and swim in their pool. Reece thoroughly enjoyed the pool and of course all the attention. Here he is with my brother. Aren't they studs!Reece was once again a dream baby all weekend, even with a tooth starting to come through. He had a few moments of shrieking (but I would be screaming too if I had something trying to push through my gums). I think Joe's favorite moment all weekend was having Waffle House cuisine with Uncle Robert and my dad. They may have been a little slower the rest of the day, but all three seemed to enjoy their meals (or maybe it was the White Castle they had the night before -- men and their food).
Reece did get to spend some time with his cousin Grant. They always have a good time together, unfortunately the weekend ended a little bumpy.
As you can see, Grant was being so kind and letting his little cousin crawl all over his track and grab at his train. Well, when the time came to pick it up, Grant did so with a little bit of force and clocked Reece right in the middle
of the forehead. Poor Reece just started screaming and Grant just about curled up in a ball. But don't worry Grant --- Reece is okay and he says that he can't wait to play tackle football!By the way, Reece is now 8 months old, starting to crawl, sprouting a tooth, and still the best baby ever!
3 comments:
I'm so glad your mom was truly surprised!! What a great daughter you are. :)
Oh, and Joe and Ted should really get along ... Ted loves Waffle House (I went once and refuse to go again) and White Castle, too (I am slowly warming up to it).
I am the most blessed mother. It was such a wonderful surprise and to think I had no idea. Everyone did such a wonderful job. The food was wonderful and the pictures and video were priceless.
Of course, the fellowship of my family was the best. "what laughs we had"
Thank you all for everything. I have laughed, cried, laughed, and cried some more. I am still pinching myself to see if it was real.
Love, Mom
P.S. I told Ted about Joe's Waffle House/White Castle love, and Ted thinks we should double date at the Waffle House. He says that he and Joe can indulge their WH cravings while you and I commiserate. :)
Post a Comment