photos {30th birthday surprise party}

Warning! This is long. If you don't care about the details, but still want to see pictures, click here.

I must confess, they really got me. I had very tiny suspicions that they might be up to something, but not enough to make me seriously think it would happen. So, let me back up...

As usual, I gave Matt a hard time about planning something for my birthday – asking who he had called, etc. We were just going to go out to eat at Charanda’s since he had to work the next morning. The plan was only for Scott, Cameron, Tara & Warren to join us. At the last minute, Sherry was going to come too and asked us to pick her up (the first thing that I thought was a little off). She also told us not to drive around back because of some hanging tree limb (sadly, this did not raise the suspicion that it probably should’ve).

So, when we got to Sherry’s I wanted to take something inside to her and Matt acted like he was going to stay in the car. I looked at him like he was nuts. Considering the “something” was a gift revealing that I was pregnant, I told him to come inside with me. When Sherry opened the door, I was floored. There were tons of friends and family yelling surprise. I broke into tears immediately. I remember seeing Mom and Michelle first and that is probably what set me off. I didn’t even know they were coming into town! Then I remember seeing Maggie, then Sydney, then Sarah. Gradually I started putting together who all was there – Lissa, Greg, Hank, Teddy, Brigitte, Scott & Cameron – even Kim & Mark had came down! It was like little surprises over and over again as I realized who all was there.

After that settled a little, I was able to see that Sherry & Matt threw me a FIESTA. The entire house and back porch were decorated in a seriously festive manner. I loved it! And of course the menu was Mexican!

Now that everyone had surprised me, it was my turn. I still had the gift to give Sherry. I had bought supplies to make the exact same thing for Michelle and Mom but I didn’t bring them – not knowing they were in town. So, I gave the gift to Sherry and then passed it on. Of course, everyone freaked out in a serious manner. It was really awesome to be able to share it with everyone like that.

Eventually, the evening calmed down a little bit and we ate, enjoyed some cold beverages (luckily, Matt had told Scott to bring me some O’Doul’s), and just hung out. We had a piñata (Dora the Explorer!) that the kids enjoyed. The night passed quickly and I felt really blessed to be surrounded by friends and family. I do wish that Spencer could’ve been there, but other than that, it was pretty near perfect.