Surprise 30th Anniversary Party!

My parents married each other June 28, 1980. That was 30 years ago!! Now days, that is just not normal and I figured it was cause for celebration. Now let me say this...Planning a SURPRISE party is NOT easy. It is pretty much the hardest thing I have ever done! But it was SOOOO worth it!

Lets start at the beginning...

I have been waiting for the 30th anniversary for a long time. About 4 years to be exact. I wanted to do something special. My original plan was to buy them new wedding rings but I figured it would be too expensive as it got closer and i realized that i hadn't found my husband and made the millions i was planning on. So i went for a party instead. Not just a small get together. I wanted something big. So i decided to make it a surprise party and invite everyone we have ever known!

It took me weeks to figure out what kind of invitation i wanted to make. I knew i wanted to make it myself with pictures of them through the years. I had to scan the copy of their wedding picture which was like pulling teeth getting it out of the house and back in. But I did it. And thanks to Tawnya i was able to get it scanned and on the computer. Then i had to decide where the party was going to be for sure. I made reservations at Sugar House Park in SLC, UT in March for a June party. Best idea ever!

Here is the final product...

I am not going to lie..Im pretty proud of it :)

So once i got the invitations done i had to decide how many to print. I made list after list of people trying to not forget anyone. I had others help me (Thank you BTW) and i finally got a list together of about 140 people! I didnt realize we knew that many people. Luckily they dont all live at different addresses so i only had to print out 80 invitations. Now i had to get the addresses. That was the hardest part of it all. Normally i would just have my Mom tell me peoples currant address but that would have spoiled everything so i had to do it through family friends and it took a long time but i got almost everyone.

After the decorations and food and planning...I decided it would have been cheaper and less stressful to buy wedding rings! :)

Now was the hard part...Getting them to the park without them knowing what was going on. It took a lot of brain storming but we finally came up with a plan. In the middle of all the brain storming, my Mother was trying to plan a trip to Pennsylvania for the same weekend of the party! Then she was trying to go camping! I basically had to tell her to stay home because Charles and I wanted to take them to dinner to celebrate their anniversary and it was very important to me. She acted like she was suspicious but played along.

So i was safe for now.

The days came faster and faster and finally, it was time. I told her i had to babysit all day before "dinner". I had to help set up and get the last minute food and things. Luckily i had my 2 good friends helping me every step of the way and i dont think this would have been possible without their help so THANK YOU!!!

I told them that Charles was working but was going to meet us at the restaurant. So i got home, showered and got ready to go. We get in the car and i insist on driving. We get on the freeway and they ask where we are going to eat. I tell them its a surprise and they keep pestering but i of course dont tell them.

As we drive farther and farther on the freeway i say..."Actually, we are going to give you your present before dinner"

"Huh?" they say

Me: "We have a present for you and we want to give it to you now. But you will have to do me one little favor...Close your eyes"

Dad: "Are you serious? No way"

Me: "Come on...Please!"

Dad: "No"

Mon: "Are you serious?"

Me: "Yes im serious. You dont understand, i REALLY need you to close your eyes as soon as we get off the freeway. Please!!!!"

Dad: "There is no way i am closing my eyes"

Leave it to my dad to be difficult. I didnt take into consideration how much he would reject this idea.

Mom: "Come on honey, just humor her"

Dad: (Sigh) "Fine"

So they both put their hands over their eyes. My dad of course is still looking out the window.

Dad: "Why are you going into Sugarhouse Park?"

Me: "Dad!! Why are you looking??"

Dad: "I am just looking out the window so i know where i am"

Me: "Well stop, you are going to ruin it. When we get there, Charles will come out and get you because we have to walk you to the present because it wouldt fit at the house"

Again protest from my dad but he kept his eyes closed (Thank goodness)

We pull up to the park and Charles comes out and takes my Dads hand and I take my moms and we walk them across the grass and over a blue bridge.

Open your eyes!!!

They had NO idea! I pulled off a total surprise party!! Go me!

Now they went to greet all of their friends

In order to keep all the little ones entertained while the adults socialized we rented a Bounce House (Best Idea ever!!!) The kids LOVED it!

We of course had a TON of food for everyone as well. Thanks again to everyone who brought something!

Present time!!!!

One of my favorite things...

The Cake!

I "hired" my good friend Tawnya to take all of the pictures because i knew i would be way too busy to focus on that. She did a great job and took a few family pictures as well.

Happy Anniversary!

We love you!!!

Rainbow

So pretty!

Expired??

So Charles and I tried to get a bunch of our friends together and go out to the Westerner. It is a country bar here in Utah :) We all get dressed up and head out there just to find out that they wont let me in because my stupid license is expired. Can we say LAME! So we didn't go in and we went back to my house to have some fun. We got soooo hungry and went to Belgian Waffle to get some breakfast in the wee hours of the morning. It was a lot of fun even though I ruined our Westerner adventure. There is always next time :)

Happy Birthday Brayden!

Happy 2nd Birthday Brayden!

Party Time

D.J. came back with us from Vegas and stayed in Utah for the week. So of course i had to throw him a party. We got everyone together and played Rock Band, Pool, and of course, had a few drinks.

Las Vegas! With a Dude!

We went to our annual Las Vegas Bowling trip May 2010. We had a totally new group of people this time. It was wonderful and DRAMA FREE! What a concept :)

The lucky ducks that came to Vegas with Charles and I were:

Craig, Kelsi, Joe, Tori, Tyler, D.J.

The parents were going to come but at the last minute decided against it. So it was all us "kids" unsupervised.

Can you spell Trouble??

We left Friday April 20th right after work. We had to take two separate vehicles.

Charles drove his car with Joe, Tori and Tyler.

Craig was supposed to rent a Dodge Charger for the trip but they were dumb and gave the car away so we ended up just going in his car. It was just Craig, Kelsi and me.

Craig was smart enough to bring walkie talkies which is pretty much the best idea ever. It was so much fun. We played 20 questions and entertained each other almost the whole way down there.

We had to pick up my cousin D.J. at the air port as soon as we drove into town. It was pretty much perfect timing if we hadn't of gone to the WRONG airport. Seriously...Who was in charge here?? Oh ya, that was Charles. Geeze! :)

Once we finally got to the correct airport we headed to our hotel at the Stratosphere. We had a large room where all eight of us were going to stay. Most of us planned on going to bed being that is was already past midnight. But D.J. had other plans...

He talked everyone into going out and taking a "short" walk over to the strip to play the horse racing game at MGM. If any of you are familiar with the Las Vegas Strip...This is NOT a short walk. Its over 3 miles! Of course we were all unaware of this at the time. We all got all prettied up and headed to find the horses.

We luckily found a few trams to ride over but all in all it was a LONG walk. We of course tried to heal our pain with some yummy drinks :) Joe had a new ID and only had the paper one so he wasn't allowed to get into one of the bars. Lame. But we helped him out. Here is Kelsi, Craig and I on one of the trams happy as can be :)

And here is the famous Horse Racing machine! We finally made it!!!

I have no idea how long we stayed but all i know is that when we left, the sun was coming up.

Good old Vegas!

So after sleeping the day away, we all finally got out of bed and headed to the pool.

It was freaking freezing!!!! We played volleyball for a while to try and stay warm but eventually we gave in and hit the hot tub.

Joe got a really BIG and YUMMY drink while we were in the hot tub. You don't even have to get out of the water to get a drink. But of course he did so he could have his picture taken with his waitress.

After we were all pooled out, we went back to the room to get ready for dinner and the night out.

Oh, boys are funny :)

We had a HUGE tub in our room and someone had the idea that ALL of us could fit in the tub at the same time.

Well, can we???

Yep! Well, all except me, i had to take the picture :)

After all the fun in the tub we got ready and everyone looked super sexy! :)

We tried to find a Fat Tuesday's all night and finally found one. We wanted the 7 dollar special. When i asked for it, they said it was only served at the Stratosphere. Really??? We just walked a million miles to find this one and you don't even have what i want? Oh well, I guess i will have to suffer and get a different delicious drink and a jello shot.

Yummy :)

So funny...Cami and Kristina were in Vegas at the same time! Weird :) So we met up with them and said hi and then they had to get going because they were driving back to St. George that night. Crazies!

After a very fun night we went back to the hotel. It was our last night at the Stratosphere. Then we had to move to The Orleans where we were going to bowl.

Most everyone went to breakfast. I was too tired so i slept while everyone ate. Then when we got to bowling i was hungry so i decided it was a good idea to have Sex on the Beach for breakfast. And not just one. I think i had 4...5....6?? Ya, i cant remember. But it was an awesome morning :)

My first score was 190 something

My second score was 100 something

My last score was 87...87?

Wow, i hardly remember that last game but i know it was awesome :)

I have a confession to make...

I was one of those drunk people that decided it was a good idea to stack the cups she drank.

And then of course, it was spilled...

This is me and Kelsi being very sad about the spill

But then we got over it and were happy again :)

After bowling i was starving! For some real food :)

We found out that at The Orleans you can buy an ALL DAY buffet pass and you can go back as many times as you want during the day. Genius! So we all got a pass and had the super cool wrist bands. I know you want one :)

After a little nap and a shower, we got all dressed up and went out again to see the sights.

A man was selling lays and they were flashing. Super cute.

Joe found some sexy cops and he HAD to get his pic taken with them.

Then we had to stop at Walgreen's (I know, why Walgreen's right) They have a potty, water, socks, chap stick...Pretty much everything you need! Its like a Wal-Mart!

Apparently even though its on the strip you are not allowed to consume alcoholic beverages on the premises.

Craig and Kelsi are rebels

D.J. showed me the best game EVER! Craps! I was a little scared of it at first but once i watched it long enough i started to play and i am hooked. If you don't know how to play or are too scared to try it...Over come it! Its awesome :)

D.J. played and won $1,000.00!!!!!

Freakin Lucky Duck!

All in all the trip was a huge success and everyone had a great time. We are going back next year and staying at the Bellagio. Yep, its going to be amazing!