SURPRISE PARTY!!!!!

It was Friday, November 12th, SURPRISE PARTY time! Two couples hadn't shown up yet, but here are many of our dear friends, waiting to surprise Will for his 40th birthday! I love Julia's excitement in this photo... so typical of my sweet and good-humored friend. Allen and Bruce are pretty happy too. Thanks to all of you... and Ted and Caroline, Kimberlee and Steve (thanks a million for getting a Friday night off, Steve), Todd and Jessica, Nathan and Heather, Kirk and Heather and Eddie and Carri. And, Mick and Eden were on their way, along with Chad and Rachel. Of course, a million thanks to Chad and Kristy, lending us their lovely home!


Here's my gorgeous friend and the best hostess, Kristy, waiting at the door for Will and me to arrive. She's just so wonderful, and I can't thank her enough for helping me arrange this party and for all her hard work!


My SPEECHLESS sweetheart stood there in disbelief. He thought we were just coming over to Chad and Kristy's for dinner, with an appetizer and bottle of wine in tow. Little did he know......


Here are some of us girls, enjoying fab food and wine!



What a beautiful table Kristy set... so elegant and classy. Our amazing friends brought delicious food and wine to share in celebration of our Birthday Boy. I knew this would be a nice party... but I never imagined how beautiful it would be. Even the music was perfect. Chad and Kristy, I can't thank you enough for such a special evening!!!



Here's a still-in-shock Will, mingling with great friends.



We played a fun game where everyone was divided into teams to answer questions about Will. I made up the questionnaire... and I think the team with Bruce on it won. But it was a very close call with Kimberlee's team! I was actually pleasantly surprised at how much our friends know about my hubby!


Here's Will with Chad, the Host with the Most!


Will and Bruce.... all the way from Portland! We were sad that Cody couldn't make it in until the next morning.


Me and Julia



Mick and Eden, all the way from San Diego!


Kimberlee and Julia


Chad and Rachel


Allen and Julia


Kirk and Heather


Todd and Jessica



There's a story about this cake. It's too long to tell... but in a nutshell, I should have baked it myself. I LOVE to bake cake... but I just did NOT have the time, nor did I know how to hide the few things I was doing for the party. I ordered an amazing cake from a good bakery... but it was not amazing, nor was it what I ordered. But it's great for a laugh... and it looks okay with 40 candles.


It takes a great pair of lungs to blow out all those candles...


Wow! Look at all that smoke!



Here's a group picture at the end of the evening, missing only 2 couples who had already left. Thank you so very much, to all of our sweet friends who came to this party and blessed my husband immensely! We are grateful beyond words for the friends God has given us... what gifts you all are. And, Chad and Kristy, we're so very thankful for the time, detail and love you put into this evening. Thank you for your beautiful home and all of your hard work. We love you both!

Big 40th celebration continued...

Cody made it in on Saturday morning! I still can't believe my sweet brother and sister in law came all this way to take us out to dinner (and surprise Will!), but they did. They took us out to The Edge for an absolutely fabulous birthday dinner! The food was extraordinary, as was the wine Bruce chose. There was something very special about it: note the "Cask 23." Bruce and Cody, you did way too much... but thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We love you!!!

... and continued...

On Sunday the 14th we had one more celebration for the birthday boy: a family one. We had a special dinner and cake (he requested the maple-gingerbread cake again), as well as handmade cards from the kids. My gift for Will wasn't ready until Monday: a photo book from Hawaii. He loved it! Happy 40th one more time, my Love!

Titus' note

Our sweet Titus left us this precious note, while we were in HI, on the school whiteboard. And I totally don't care that it's a grammatical nightmare!

Post Hawaii

The morning after Will and I got home from HI, we gave everybody their goodies. The boys each got a shirt and some sort of keepsake, Grandma got some special popcorn (her favorite), Will's mom got 3 varieties of chocolate macadamia nuts, and Mom got a beautifully-scented candle (it was made in France, but purchased in Hawaii). They were all happy. Sulli got a hula skirt and dolphin purse, which she LOVES!

SURPRISE!!!!!

I never surprise Will, and I really wanted to whisk him away for his 40th birthday. He knew we were going somewhere, but he didn't know where. I arranged it with his boss at work and told Will not to schedule anything the week of Oct. 21st-27th. Thanks to some great tips from friends and family, I booked The Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea, Maui and even got a great deal for that particular week. Alaskan Airlines was running a special ($150 each way!) too, so it was like God was just mapping the whole thing out for us. I think He delights in giving good gifts to His children. I am thankful for this time away from our busy life at home, and I'm so grateful for our moms, who came and held down the fort (and taught school!) while we were gone. Thank you, Moms!!!




Our suite was SWEET! I was so excited about the bathroom, that I even had Will take a picture of me in it. The Fairmont doesn't have any rooms; they're all suites. The lobby looks like a palace too... and the whole place feels otherworldly. We loved it and want to go back.




We enjoyed a fabulous dinner at Nick's Fishmarket, right at our own resort. The scenery was stunning, and this guy ran around, blowing into a conch shell and lighting torches. Before long, surprise #2 would be here... Cindy and Scott in Maui to celebrate with us!!!

Lahaina

I have no pictures of Lahaina, which is on the other side of Maui, from Wailea. But I do have these pictures of us 4 Musketeers out to dinner, right on the water. Thank you, Cindy and Scott, for joining us in Maui!!!