A Wonderful, Double Family Surprise
I have a pretty wonderful family on Dad's side. (I do on Mom's side as well, but though they are wonderful as well, they are not the subject of this post.) We are much blessed by having two of his sibling's families living in Toledo.
I come to write about this because of the time we were able to enjoy with one of them a few months ago. (We were able to spend time with the other Toledo family then too, but though we enjoyed that as well, they are not really the subject of this post either.) My talented cousin Kayla planned a surprise party for my Uncle Rich's 50th birthday. Seeing family and celebrating a birthday - in my family, that means lots of fun, abundant good food, and many picture-taking opportunities.
It was held at the home of Uncle Rich's brother, which Kayla and her cousin Katie did a beautiful job of decorating. The rest of their immediate families had gone to a restaurant for supper.
After my cousin Jared texted the girls that they were on the way home, the family and friends who were able to come before 7 scattered about in closets, behind counters, around the doorway, in the bathroom.
I was behind the counters in the kitchen, posed with my camera, opposite Katie with Kayla's, which is exactly the same as mine. (However, when she asked me to take some pictures for her, I noticed that hers zooms more smoothly. This does not surprise anyone.)
The garage door opened-it was only Katie's mom. They should be here soon, she said.
We heard them and prepared. The door opened, and Jared came in, whistling. Kristen, hiding in the bathroom with the boys, yelled, "Happy Birthday!" I thought she had jumped the gun and jumped out at Jared. Then, I saw Uncle Rich's startled face and realized he was here. I quickly attempted to capture it, but the camera didn't focus immediately.
Though I missed his first look, you can get an idea from what I did get. It was a successful surprise. From experience, I know that it is gratifying!
But, there was more, as you may be wondering about from the title if you don't know the story. Aunt Lisa came in behind Uncle Rich, and as he greeted people, she turned and saw the room opposite the kitchen.
You see, though I had never finished this post, I decided to to so now, for today is their 25th anniversary, and midst all the preparation for the birthday party, Kayla had had another surprise prepared. I just missed Aunt Lisa's reaction at the sight of the room next to the kitchen. She was very surprised.
"Did you know about this?" she asked Uncle Rich.
"Yeah," he said.
This caused many gales of laughter.
One of Kayla's friends made a lovely cake for their anniversary, and there were four different kinds of pie, one of Uncle Rich's favorites. Being out of season, pumpkin was unavailable, so I made some pumpkin pies. Due to the amount of pie dough, I decided to make three, though Aunt Lisa just asked for two. This was a good thing, because the extra pie ended up being an upside down pumpkin pie.
A 50 candle was stuck into an upright pumpkin pie and we sang to Uncle Rich. Then we went to the other room to cut the cake. We sang Happy Anniversary for fun, and teased Uncle Rich and Aunt Lisa about feeding each other the cake. Aunt Lisa protested that if they hadn't done it at the wedding, they weren't going to now. Then Uncle Rich thought he needed to intertwine their arms while doing it, and Aunt Lisa laughed so hard she couldn't continue. For her sake, I shall refrain from posting pictures.
It was fun to see our cousins, and get pictures like we hadn't in a long time.
The opening of the gifts was a fun time. The best part was when Uncle Rich pulled out the familiar-looking envelope. Aunt Lisa recognized it and got excited. Uncle Rich opened it and pulled out-himself.
His attempt to imitate himself was quite amusing.
I like how it looks from behind with the light shining through it.