(here's this picture of mom being embarassed when she realized that the party was for her, I don't have any good pics of me and her together, so I'll have to see if my sisters got any)
I returned last night from visiting Utah for mom's 65th birthday celebration weekend. Dad was kind enough to fly me out as a surprise, which worked out great. Here's how the weekend of surprises happened:
Friday afternoon Rachael picked me up from the airport with Abby, and we all went to lunch at Rumbi. We hung out at her house and at 3:15 (5:15 eastern time) I called mom as if I were driving home, to keep up the ruse that I was still in Georgia. It worked perfectly, mom later admitted to thinking that the call seemed more quiet than normal, considering I'm usually in traffic not in Rachael's bedroom.
Rachael and I drove over to meet everyone else for dinner at the Training Table. All of my siblings and a few spouses showed up to surprise mom. Mom was only expecting Hode and Joclynn to be there, so when all the other kids were there too, that was a fun surprise. Then I walked up behind her and put my hands on her shoulders, she sat there for a few seconds and later said she was thinking to herself that she saw all of her kids so who could be touching her, and when she turned around and saw me it was a face of pure surprise. It was awesome. We hugged and cried and freaked out and I loved it. It was the reaction that I had wanted.
On Saturday, mom and I were able to spend all day together shopping and driving around, it was nice to be together. That evening all the family got together for a little pizza dinner and birthday cake. Mom was out opening some presents while the sisters were inside secretly prepping for the surprise open house; Rachael and Becky put together a great buffet of treats with contributions from the whole family, along with awesome old photos of mom and the family. Mom thought that was the end of her party, but then around 7 all the surprise guests showed up. When she came inside to see all of the food and pictures and people she realized it was another surprise for her. It was all so perfect (although we did have a few scares with some guests who arrived early). I think even though mom doesn't like to be the center of attention, she enjoyed the thought and the effort. It was a totally awesome event.
Sunday we did a little church and a little father's day. I was able to see Joe's parents and sister Annie. That evening mom and dad and I went down to Becky's for a father's day dinner of kabobs which turned out awesome. She and Samantha even gave us a little piano recital, Becky surprised everyone by taking piano lessons secretly then unveiled her impressive talent last week.
Mom and I had our last hours together on Monday, we went to Cafe Rio and then on to the airport. It was definitely sad to leave her and everyone behind, but I needed to get back to my husband, I missed him (and he needed to be saved from Warcraft).
Friday afternoon Rachael picked me up from the airport with Abby, and we all went to lunch at Rumbi. We hung out at her house and at 3:15 (5:15 eastern time) I called mom as if I were driving home, to keep up the ruse that I was still in Georgia. It worked perfectly, mom later admitted to thinking that the call seemed more quiet than normal, considering I'm usually in traffic not in Rachael's bedroom.
Rachael and I drove over to meet everyone else for dinner at the Training Table. All of my siblings and a few spouses showed up to surprise mom. Mom was only expecting Hode and Joclynn to be there, so when all the other kids were there too, that was a fun surprise. Then I walked up behind her and put my hands on her shoulders, she sat there for a few seconds and later said she was thinking to herself that she saw all of her kids so who could be touching her, and when she turned around and saw me it was a face of pure surprise. It was awesome. We hugged and cried and freaked out and I loved it. It was the reaction that I had wanted.
On Saturday, mom and I were able to spend all day together shopping and driving around, it was nice to be together. That evening all the family got together for a little pizza dinner and birthday cake. Mom was out opening some presents while the sisters were inside secretly prepping for the surprise open house; Rachael and Becky put together a great buffet of treats with contributions from the whole family, along with awesome old photos of mom and the family. Mom thought that was the end of her party, but then around 7 all the surprise guests showed up. When she came inside to see all of the food and pictures and people she realized it was another surprise for her. It was all so perfect (although we did have a few scares with some guests who arrived early). I think even though mom doesn't like to be the center of attention, she enjoyed the thought and the effort. It was a totally awesome event.
Sunday we did a little church and a little father's day. I was able to see Joe's parents and sister Annie. That evening mom and dad and I went down to Becky's for a father's day dinner of kabobs which turned out awesome. She and Samantha even gave us a little piano recital, Becky surprised everyone by taking piano lessons secretly then unveiled her impressive talent last week.
Mom and I had our last hours together on Monday, we went to Cafe Rio and then on to the airport. It was definitely sad to leave her and everyone behind, but I needed to get back to my husband, I missed him (and he needed to be saved from Warcraft).
