Happy 40 :)

Last week my oldest sister celebrated her 40th birthday. Heather and I are ten years apart, but despite the age difference, we've always been close. I've never thrown a surprise party in my life and let me be the first to say, I may not be the best event coordinator out there. Nonetheless, my middle sister Jen and I decided to give the whole party planning thing a whirl.

We rented out a local hall, decorated it in Heather's favorites ... bright colors and items from the beach. I wish I would have taken closer pics of the details, like the chips in the beach pails or the cocktail candy centerpieces. The pink, green, yellow, and orange colors made the whole place a cheery environment, not quite the usual 40th over the hill party. It looked so nice.

Heather's sister-in-law made this awesome flip flop cake, which unfortunately was cut before I could snap a picture.

Me & The Birthday Girl

We had a DJ playing a mix of music ... a random collection of Kenny Chesney, Justin Bieber, Black Eyed Peas, Journey, and more. The kids loved the music more than anyone and spent all night on the dance floor. Abby showed off her moves and wore herself out. Before long, she was dragging her blankie all over the place and trying to "sleep" in the middle of everyone dancing.

Not only did the kids have a great time, but the adults had their share of fun too. Wine and jello shots for me! YUM. :)

So now that you know that the party was a success, let me tell you a little about my week before the party. When we scheduled the party over a month ago, we knew it would be a busy time of the year. June is full of graduations, birthdays, end of school parties, baseball/softball games, and vacations. Heather's children are quite active with sports and Emily had a softball game last Monday night. Her team won that night, advancing them to the League Championships that Thursday night. If they were to win that game (which they did) they were to play for County Championships Saturday night at 6. The same date and time of Heather's surprise party. Greeeeeeat.

I told everyone to pray for rain ... rain would be the only way we could keep everything scheduled according to plan. Rain it did, for a little bit Saturday afternoon, but it was really just a light sprinkle. Clouds darkened and Emily and I did crazy rain dances inside the hall while we were decorating the place. With no avail, the time came for Heather's family to leave for Emily's game and Jen and I had no choice but to surprise Heather a bit early.

Needless to say it wasn't the way we had planned it, but she still was surprised and excited for her party. And go figure ... the game was rained out thirty minutes later. Ugh ...

So surprise or no surprise, everyone still had a great time. It was great catching up with family members we hadn't seen in awhile. Thanks to everyone who helped out with organizing, decorating, making phone calls, and even our clean up crew. :)

Happy 40th Heather! We love you :)