Surprise Party!

This past summer when the Bedinghaus family went to Hawaii for Rob's parents' 25th wedding anniversary we (meaning the four of us kids) had dinner together and decided we needed to do a little extra something for them when their real anniversary came around this month. We also decided the most meaningful gift we could give them would for all of us to be together. They admit themselves that they don't need more stuff!

It's amazing how fast November came from July! We worked over the past few months to plan a surprise party for Bob and Lori and it finally came Saturday night. Here's how it went down:

We decided all of us (including Nan) would show up for dinner and treat them at a nice restaurant. Then, we worked with one of their good friends, Cindy, to host a party at her home with a group of their closest friends. I talked with Bob and arranged with him to bring Lori to the restaurant so he knew about the dinner surprise, but he didn't know about the party.

So they came to the restaurant and we were all waiting for them hiding behind our menus. The look on Lori's face was so priceless. She was really happy to see all of us there and we had a great dinner all together.

All of us at dinner

As it came around time for dessert we mentioned that we were all having dessert somewhere else. They were even more surprised when we told them that they were going to be blindfolded the whole drive to the dessert. In the parking lot I gave them their blindfolds and Lori gave me a look that said, "You've got to be kidding me right now." But no, I was definitely not kidding! Rob drove their car and our caravan started off toward Cindy's.

We were definitely early to the party so we had to drive around their neighborhood for a while which was hilarious and awful at the same time. It was hilarious (at least to me) because we had four cars in our caravan and here we were weaving around their neighborhood and people kept staring at us. It was awful because poor Lori got really carsick in the backseat of her car, especially being blindfolded and going around in circles did not help! So I felt really bad about that because we didn't think about that happening at all.

But we all made it and all their friends yelled "Surprise!" when we came in and it was great. Bob & Lori were really surprised and it was a fun evening hanging out drinking wine, eating cake, watching football and enjoying Cindy's lovely home and decorations.

Showing up at the Weavers' house after everyone yelled "Surprise!"

The cake

Before they cut the cake....looking so innocent....

....and since they didn't smash cake at their wedding, they took advantage this time!

And after they cleaned up -- good thing they still love each other so much

Maybe this will be the family Christmas card? We're still looking for that elusive picture....

All of the fun and surprises aside it really was a special evening to tell Bob & Lori how much we love them and how proud of them we are for their 25 years of marriage. We appreciate their example in our own marriage and hope we get to celebrate their 50th anniversary someday!