Ever since last year when my mom told me and my sister that she wanted a party for she and my dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary our wheels have been spinning. Did we want to just have a party or did we want to try and make it a surprise? We knew she would really like a surprise party, but pulling that off was going to be a feat. I talked to her good friend, Kathy who is a party planner, about throwing them a party there at Buckhorn Lake Resort where they live and Kathy was beyond thrilled and insisted that it be a surprise. She assured me she would help in any way she could - and boy did she.
After working through schedules and trying to find a date, we settled on June 3rd for the party. Mom and Dad's actual anniversary was May 19th and they celebrated by going on a cruise with their friends. Melissa and I sent them cards as to not be suspicious. Anything we could do to keep the party a secret, we did. We had no idea how we were going to get there and decorate without them knowing and then getting them to the party without them knowing it was for them was not going to be easy. Mom is a Nosey Rosie (I guess I get it honestly) and keeping her 'out of the know' amongst all her friends was not an easy chore.
Since Casen and I were out of school earlier than Shane and Camden, we headed to Kerrville to relax (or so Mom thought). While we did get some relaxing in, I was on a mission while we were there to order the cake and to get pictures for the party. Upon arriving to Kerrville however, I learned that Kathy (my party planner) was in Utah due to the failing health of her parents. Oh crud . . . I was starting to get more stressed as she was my go to person for everything! Luckily, I received a phone call from her that night and she told me that her husband, Dee and his daughter, Jennifer would be taking care of all the food and everything would be fine - and she was right!
While I was visiting, any of my parents friends that I ran into would ask me if I thought that mom and dad new about the party since mom is always in the know of what goes on around Buckhorn. If she did know, she had not said anything to anyone, including her closest of friends. We wondered if they knew and just weren't saying anything, instead just playing along . . . only time would tell.
While visiting them, I had told mom that I wanted some of our family pictures, as I did not have so we headed to storage where we found 4 containers full for me to bring home (which one of them had their wedding album) and also went through a hope chest where not only were there things from my sister and my childhood, but my mom's wedding dress which I had never seen. I instantly thought I needed to get it to display it at the party. Melissa had found mom's veil in a hope chest she had so this would be perfect. I paid attention to the code mom punched in to get into the storage as well as where she put the key. When no one was looking, I went in her car and took the key and while making a visit to Grandma Key the next day, I stopped and ordered the cake and then went to storage and picked up her dress.
While Melissa did the majority of the decorations and I went through all the pictures searching for pictures of mom and dad together through out their 50 years together. Since 'selfies' were not a huge thing back in the day, the pictures of them together were few and far between. Dad was the family photographer so while there were plenty pictures of mom, Melissa and I, finding pictures with Dad was not easy. It was definitely fun taking a trip down memory lane while searching through not only pictures my parents had, but also my Nan Naw's pictures and my Great Grandma Nancy's pictures.
Melissa and I went earlier this week to Total Wine to buy wine for the party - and that was great fun and educational. We had no clue what we were after, but one of the workers there made it a fun experience and assured us our selections would be a hit.
Saturday morning Melissa and her family as well as my family headed to Kerrville. Mom's friends, Jean and Jill, took her shopping, so we didn't have to worry about her wondering around the resort and seeing our vehicles or snooping around to see what was going on. Dad didn't want to do anything with his friends, but luckily he stayed home and watched golf so he had no clue what was going on. While Dee and his daughter prepared all of the food, Melissa, Shawn, her boys and I got the barn all ready for the guests. Shane and my boys (along with Zach) went to the park, played and had ice cream sundaes.
After we went and picked up some flowers (since the flowers Shawn, Mason and Braden picked from the side of the road did not look to wonderful) and the cake we headed back to the barn, finished up with the final touches, got ourselves ready and the guests were arriving. Jean and Jill had mom home by 3:45ish, just to give her enough time to get outside to enjoy happy hour with their friends.
But how were we going to get mom and dad down to the barn without being suspicious? Mom and Dad work down in the barn serving food and working other events for Dee and Kathy, and it apparently is not uncommon for them to be called for help. Dee decided he would call Dad at 4:15 and ask him if he and mom could come down at 4:30 to help serve some food to a group. Even though they were enjoying happy hour with Dave and Jean (their friends) they gladly said they would be down to help. Of course Dave and Jean were in on the whole thing, so they parted ways and said they would get together later . . .
Everyone who drove their golf carts to the party, went and hid them on the opposite side of the building so they would not be seen by mom and dad upon their arrival. Mom and dad entered in through the kitchen door and dad immediately went in and put an apron on, ready to work. Mom was chatting with the workers when Dee told them to come on out into the barn and he would show them what he wanted them to do. Much to their surprise, when he opened the door, it was all people they knew - mom was so confused she just couldn't compute it for a second. They were in shock - SURPRISE!!!!!!
There were friends from Buckhorn, a couple of their racing buddies from Missouri, their Frio River camping group (including Shawn's parents), and of course Melissa's and my families all in attendance. I believe about 60 people were there celebrating them and their 50 years together. It was a special and awesome time and I am so happy that everyone was able to keep it a secret and surprise them. Mom said she has never had a surprise party and had always wanted one - mission accomplished.
Mom and dad had a great time celebrating with their friends. A big thanks to everyone who helped to make this day special for not only them, but for our whole family. It was definitely a fond memory that we will be talking about for awhile.
After working through schedules and trying to find a date, we settled on June 3rd for the party. Mom and Dad's actual anniversary was May 19th and they celebrated by going on a cruise with their friends. Melissa and I sent them cards as to not be suspicious. Anything we could do to keep the party a secret, we did. We had no idea how we were going to get there and decorate without them knowing and then getting them to the party without them knowing it was for them was not going to be easy. Mom is a Nosey Rosie (I guess I get it honestly) and keeping her 'out of the know' amongst all her friends was not an easy chore.
Since Casen and I were out of school earlier than Shane and Camden, we headed to Kerrville to relax (or so Mom thought). While we did get some relaxing in, I was on a mission while we were there to order the cake and to get pictures for the party. Upon arriving to Kerrville however, I learned that Kathy (my party planner) was in Utah due to the failing health of her parents. Oh crud . . . I was starting to get more stressed as she was my go to person for everything! Luckily, I received a phone call from her that night and she told me that her husband, Dee and his daughter, Jennifer would be taking care of all the food and everything would be fine - and she was right!
While I was visiting, any of my parents friends that I ran into would ask me if I thought that mom and dad new about the party since mom is always in the know of what goes on around Buckhorn. If she did know, she had not said anything to anyone, including her closest of friends. We wondered if they knew and just weren't saying anything, instead just playing along . . . only time would tell.
While visiting them, I had told mom that I wanted some of our family pictures, as I did not have so we headed to storage where we found 4 containers full for me to bring home (which one of them had their wedding album) and also went through a hope chest where not only were there things from my sister and my childhood, but my mom's wedding dress which I had never seen. I instantly thought I needed to get it to display it at the party. Melissa had found mom's veil in a hope chest she had so this would be perfect. I paid attention to the code mom punched in to get into the storage as well as where she put the key. When no one was looking, I went in her car and took the key and while making a visit to Grandma Key the next day, I stopped and ordered the cake and then went to storage and picked up her dress.
While Melissa did the majority of the decorations and I went through all the pictures searching for pictures of mom and dad together through out their 50 years together. Since 'selfies' were not a huge thing back in the day, the pictures of them together were few and far between. Dad was the family photographer so while there were plenty pictures of mom, Melissa and I, finding pictures with Dad was not easy. It was definitely fun taking a trip down memory lane while searching through not only pictures my parents had, but also my Nan Naw's pictures and my Great Grandma Nancy's pictures.
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| I sent this picture to my mom and sister as I was going through my Great Grandma Nancy's pictures. The stack on the right are pictures with me in them and the stack on the left are pictures with Melissa in them. Can you guess who the favorite is? My mom blames it on her being first born. Not so sure about that . . . |
Saturday morning Melissa and her family as well as my family headed to Kerrville. Mom's friends, Jean and Jill, took her shopping, so we didn't have to worry about her wondering around the resort and seeing our vehicles or snooping around to see what was going on. Dad didn't want to do anything with his friends, but luckily he stayed home and watched golf so he had no clue what was going on. While Dee and his daughter prepared all of the food, Melissa, Shawn, her boys and I got the barn all ready for the guests. Shane and my boys (along with Zach) went to the park, played and had ice cream sundaes.
After we went and picked up some flowers (since the flowers Shawn, Mason and Braden picked from the side of the road did not look to wonderful) and the cake we headed back to the barn, finished up with the final touches, got ourselves ready and the guests were arriving. Jean and Jill had mom home by 3:45ish, just to give her enough time to get outside to enjoy happy hour with their friends.
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| On each table we had all sorts of old pictures from their past. |
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| Mom's wedding dress which she made - she had no idea when she started making this dress that it would be the one she would get married in. |
Everyone who drove their golf carts to the party, went and hid them on the opposite side of the building so they would not be seen by mom and dad upon their arrival. Mom and dad entered in through the kitchen door and dad immediately went in and put an apron on, ready to work. Mom was chatting with the workers when Dee told them to come on out into the barn and he would show them what he wanted them to do. Much to their surprise, when he opened the door, it was all people they knew - mom was so confused she just couldn't compute it for a second. They were in shock - SURPRISE!!!!!!
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| Mom and her confused look |
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| Dad ready to work with his apron on. |
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| Complete and utter shock. It was awesome! |
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| More old pictures from their past. |
After everyone had appetizers and visited for awhile, we had a very nice meal which consisted of salad, steak, baked potato, asparagus and a roll. We were all too busy enjoying our delicious food to even think to take a picture of it! After dinner, they cut their cake - of course with mom coaching dad the whole way through. :)
Mom and dad had a great time celebrating with their friends. A big thanks to everyone who helped to make this day special for not only them, but for our whole family. It was definitely a fond memory that we will be talking about for awhile.
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