MOM'S SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY

We finally did it; we surprised Mom. This has not happened in 49 years of marriage. Mary would always somehow find out what was going on; she would sneak down at Xmas and open her presents so there would be no surprise. I can't think of a time when she was surprised by anything we did. This time we got her good.

Her 70th birthday was coming up and the daughters were planning months in advance sending sneaky emails around not to give anything away. Cheryl planned the get together evening, Becca prepared the DVD honoring Mom, Mary wrote everyone to send in photos, Emily and Al saw to details and planned strategy.

14 of our 16 living children came back for this mega event some alone, some with their families. It was impossible to get them all together but we were so thrilled that as many came. They came from Spokane, California, Michigan, Florida and those far away places in Utah, Mapleton and Bountiful. They came in secretly like troops quietly parachuting on the scene. I planned the boar hunt mentioned below as cover to have John and Bryan stay at our home.

When Saturday came, we could not think of a good reason to get Mom out of the house at 4PM to drive her to the park where all had secretly assembled. She had put two roasts in the oven and would not leave the home. Finally I proposed that we visit the family graves and pick up two of Al's kids at the park to go with us. She was plenty ticked but agreed and we drove to the park and when she saw the banner and all the kids from all over she was totally surprised and it was such a great moment.

We gathered for a picture which is always an ordeal but there were 70 of us there and there was so much joy, I cannot describe it.

We then went over to the H offices where Cheryl organized a great dinner brought in by Cafe Del Rio and the Pointe. Scrumptious!

The videos equipment was on the fritz there so we headed back to our house and all 70 went into the basement family room where we watched a touching DVD honoring Mom with background music like, "Well Hello Mary Lou, Goodbye Heart, Mary Lou we're so in love with you" There were photos sent by all on the various stages of our home from the start. It was heart wrenching!

This reunion never stopped and continued for two more days with another big Sunday dinner with goodies from everyone including Dutch oven ribs from Doug, Smoked ribs from Opa and goodies all around. We managed to quiet the throng for a short Family Home,e Evening. When one talks about "Having joy and rejoicing in your posterity" it certainly includes these moments and even better ones to come.

We thank all for coming and for all those who helped so much. This time we surprised Mom.

Love, Opa