A Surprise For Nana!

About three or four years ago, I started getting some ideas together for a surprise birthday party. I talked with Nathan about them, and I patiently waited until the next “big” birthday…my mother-in-law’s 60th.

Last August I ran the idea by Nathan’s sister, but the planning didn’t start in earnest until December or so. We decided on a guest list, arranged for Nathan’s sister to secretly come in town, covertly got phone numbers from Nana’s phone, sent out invitations, and waited for the day to come.

The Ramlals arrived late Friday night of Presidents day weekend, and we had the party on Saturday afternoon. I had told Nana that she would be coming to a housewarming party. I thought it was a good idea so that she would expect lots of cars at our house. I even sent her a fake invitation.

The guests arrived, and we all sat in anticipation for her to arrive. I have to say that the surprise went splendidly. Nana was very happily surprised….shocked actually. I wish so much that I had the camera ready to get her face when we opened the door. I think she was mostly just happy to see her granddaughters…but she seemed pretty happy about the party and all of the other friends who came as well. We enjoyed a few hours celebrating Nana. Here are some pictures of the party:

Some of the guests waiting for Nana to arrive:

Here is Nathan explaining a few things to his mom shortly after she arrived:

Can you tell she was happy?:

Singing happy birthday:

A close up of the cake I made. Most everything was sentimental and nice, but I had to do at least one thing to poke fun. I heard the idea for this cake from a fellow musician, except they did a dinosaur. I thought a volcano would be better:

Many people contributed their favorite memories of Nana, which we displayed around the room. Here she is reading them:

I was very pleased with how the party went. What fun!