Sweet (Secret) Surprises

Ok. I have a confession. For the past few weeks, I have been a liar and a conspirator. And now I am finally able to shout it to the world: my brother and I have been planning a surprise anniversary party for my parents! I cannot tell you how hard it has been to keep that a secret. At first I worried that someone else would spill the beans...and then I was more worried that I would spill the beans. I talk to my mom every day (sometimes twice a day), so keeping that information secret was a little tricky. Oh, and the lies...or as my aunt put it, "it's not a lie, it's a surprise." LOL. Thankfully, we made it to this weekend, and they were completely surprised; they never suspected a thing. My dad said he didn't know anything was up until he walked in the door and the house alarm wasn't on- haha. Sweet success!

It actually all started with our planning meetings at Sunday Night Dinners. The idea was born and all of the pieces started falling into place. I had a lot of help from people down in San Antonio; which I am so grateful for, because it's hard to plan a secret party from 5 hours away! We couldn't have pulled it off without our sweet helpers. This past week has been crazy trying to pull together last minute details. My mom thought I had zero plans all week and that I was getting lots of rest...not so much- lol. I was running around, staying up late, preparing for the big event. I baked all night Wednesday, Laura helped be bake all night Thursday, and I spent all day Friday putting together last minute touches on everything before heading down to San Antonio.

Check out the mess!

God orchestrated the perfect evening. We told my parents that we were coming into town to take them out to dinner for their 30th anniversary. It was a big year, so we wanted to do something special. Little did they know how special. We took them to one of their favorite restaurants in San Antonio while we had our crew of secret workers back at the house setting up for the party. We got done with dinner way too early, but my dad (conveniently) wanted to stop and get my mom a new camera. It was the perfect time filler, and they were actually going to need a camera!

When we got back the house, I had to fight back my excitement and keep myself from running to the door and/or grinning from ear to ear. They walked into the house to see the dining room set up with all of the desserts and their wedding song playing in the background. My dad said "oh my" and my mom started crying. We had to push them further into the house so they could see the mass of people waiting for them in the living room. After the initial shock, my parens were able to enjoy the evning with a number of their family and friends. They reminisced about when they met, what their wedding day was like, etc. It was fun to see them so excited and so overwhelmed by the love that was poured out in their honor. I couldn't have been more pleased with how the party turned out- my crazy event planning skills paid off! And I praise God for blessing my parents with a wonderful anniversary surprise.

Surprised!!!

Sweet couple

The co-conspirators

We pulled it off!

Happy anniversary, Mom and Dad! We love you!