Surprise Birthday Party!

When my Aunts came to visit a few months ago we found out that my mom had NEVER had a birthday party before. We have taken her out for dinner, given her gifts and celebrated her big day but she had never had a party. When we heard that, we decided that we would surprise her this year and make a big deal of it. Because of my trip to AZ we had to move her party to the following weekend, which only added to the surprise because she wouldn't be expecting it at all. We are very lucky that we have an extended camp/church family here in KC and they all turned out for her surprise. They even made the party easy for me by bringing the fruit/dip, cheese/cracker platters, holiday punch and other party foods. That is the easiest way to throw a party EVER!! I am very thankful that everyone helped me out and made it such a special day for mom.

Here is her special cake. It was Almond Sour Cream (bottom tier) and Godiva Chocolate (top tier). Melissa really outdid herself with this beautiful creation! I wanted to celebrate Mom's heart journey thus far as well as her heart, spirit and soul. Each guest wrote on cards and recorded a special memory or something they loved/appreciated about mom. I am working on a heart album for her and plan to add these memories to her book.

We told mom about the party right after we set the cake up. We gave her a couple hours to get ready and to get used to the idea of a house full of people. She was so surprised and excitedly told us that she had never had a birthday party before. I told her that we had invited 30 of her closest friends and she laughed until she realized we were serious and she said...Oh! This is her sitting in her special seat while we got the table set up and waited for our guests.

This is moms heart surgeon Dr. Miller. He is such an amazing man and I want to adopt him. :) He stayed for about 30 minutes and spent the whole time talking to mom and ended with giving her a pep talk. I had to ask my Dr. questions and of course that included...when will we know when she is ready for her next open heart surgery? He said that mom would know when she was ready. He encouraged her to get stronger and to do her exercises to get ready. We had a great time talking with him and I am just so pleased that he took the time to come to her party.

Our great friends Cheryl and her daughter Denise with her adorable son Wyatt. We haven't spent much time with them lately and it was great seeing them again.

Thank you dear friends for helping us surprise mom for her birthday. It was a fantastic party and mom still talks about it. Happy Birthday Sweet Mom! Keep getting stronger so we can celebrate many more birthdays! I love you!!