Happy 50th Birthday to the best Mom!!!

I got an email from Dad a couple weeks ago saying that he and Christy (one of Mom's friends) decided to plan a surprise party for Mom's 50th birthday at Mercado's, Mom's favorite Mexican restaurant. Mom's birthday was actually last Friday, the 7th, but because of a Church Campout already planned, Dad decided to postpone the party a few days and make it on a Tuesday (last night). Since it was a weeknight he wasn't sure we'd be able to drive the 4 hours to Tyler for dinner, but I knew we couldn't miss something this big!!! I sent Mom some flowers at work on her actual birthday so she wouldn't think we forgot about it, and to divert attention from the real surprise...

Greg and I each took a 1/2 day off work yesterday and headed for East Texas. We made it to Tyler about 4:30, so I decided to call Mom because that's my usual get-off-work-and-call-to-chat-with-Mom time; she had no idea we were in Tyler, and I played it off really well!! She told me about how she and Dad were going on a date that night, and I told her I was in the car and was about to stop by Lowe's to wander (which we were doing to kill time since we got to Tyler early). I'm not usually good a keeping secrets like this, but I did a pretty good job; Mom had no idea!!

Christy and Wendy made it to Mercado's and were decorating when we got there. A bunch of Mom's friends and co-workers (there were probably close to 80 or so people...I don't really know...you'll have to ask Dad, he paid the bill...) were there waiting to for Mom and Dad to arrive.




Mom and Dad found a parking spot right outside the party room we were in, so we all quickly ducked so she wouldn't see anyone. When they walked in, Mom said she saw all the balloons and thought how nice it was for someone to be having a birthday party...then, "Surprise!!!" She got so beet red; you could tell she was definitely surprised!! Then she saw Allison and I and got a puzzled look on her face. It took her a while to piece it all together. Mike and Jess and their 3 kids got stuck in traffic coming from Dallas, so they made it about 30 minutes late, but it was so nice to have everyone together to celebrate Mom. She is such a wonderful, giving person and it was nice to be able to thank her for all that she's done. She has set such a wonderful example of the kind of mother I hope to be. I love you Mom!!

One of Mom's talented friends made this beautiful cake. Christy and her kids thought having a "paint party" theme would be festive and fun, and the cake just added to it.

Mom and her Chile Rellenos; Mom and her cake

Later there was a slide show (which had taken some craftiness to find all the pictures for) complete with the Survivor theme song and some Sonny and Cher. Thanks so much to Christy for all her hard work!!! She's amazing too!!

Three generations; Allison was already in her PJs by this point and I was tired because I knew we had another long drive ahead of us (thanks to a wonderful husband who chauffered me around!!).

Me and 2-week-old Jake (aka J.J.-Mike's third child). I love babies :)

The Bell family