I just wanted to post some pictures from Mom’s 50th b-day this summer. We surprised her good!! My sister and I spent a year arranging and organizing it. We planned a tea party just for ladies, mom’s friends and relatives. Then so that we didn’t leave my dad out we had a BBQ in the evening with all of the relatives and friends. So we had my mom totally buffaloed. Jody’s mother and father-in-law came up, they have never been to my folks before so they came under the pretext that they had to see the house before my folks sold it!! Anyway my mom was so worried about entertaining them, Jody and I had no trouble keeping it all as a surprise. Plus we pretended that some of the preparations were for Angela and Richard’s baby shower. So the day of the tea party: Shirley (Jody’s mother-in-law) “You know so and so told me about a neat restaurant to go to for lunch. A tea restaurant, starts with an R.” Mom “the Russia tea house”, Shirley “nope, nope, not that…was it Rutherford?” Me “oh yeah there is a Rutherford tea house by the university. Not too far from West Ed mall where you are going shopping.” “Jody “yeah we can meet you there for lunch with Heather (our cousin)”….. The surprise was so complete mom saw the cake before she saw everyone and said isn’t that a pretty cake – and still didn’t twig that is was hers!!! (She loves purple) Haha. So then of course, she really didn’t suspect that we could also have a BBQ for her that night. All the relatives were waiting when she and Shirley and another lady that joined her got back from their shopping trip. It was great fun!!

Surprise!!!

We had everyone bring flowers so that all of the table had flower centerpieces and I found these neat picture holders at the dollar store that Jody and I tied with a matching ribbon and a little thank-you pendant for favors. We put a flower picture in each of them, pictures I have taken over the last couple of years.

We were served these delicious cucumber sandwiches and little rolls, then we had scones with raspberry cream, and tea of course. Yum!

Then of course we had cake!!!! Jody made the cake and decorated it. We both designed it, and I made the flower arrangements for it.

It was a delicious lemon-poppyseed snacking cake with lemon filling and lemon drizzle – Yum!

We had a lady come and tell us about “proper tea etiquette” so of course mom had to dress up as “Mrs. McDougall!”

The lady showing us the “proper” way to hold a tea-cup – pinch the stem of the tea-cup rather than putting your finger through the hole, so that your gloves, which apparently you leave on, doesn’t get stuck. If your pinky finger peeks out, that is okay, but you don’t actually deliberately stick your finger out. That is the reason for tea sandwiches and finger food too – anything that you can eat without taking your gloves off or getting them dirty!

Everyone else giving it a try!

Clayton was out with the boys, but Kayce was with us, and he was so good. He shared his puppy with mom here.

We also shared poems that Jody and I later put in a scrapbook that we made mom from the occasion. It was fun to scrapbook – but a lot of work!!We also read the letters of those who wanted to be there but couldn’t, like my grandma and my aunts.

 Last picture, just of the group of us.

Just a quick note:   I was finally getting around to posting, being organized, feeling settled in to my new field and...... I get PNEUMONIA!!!  yes go figure.  I was incredibly sick for 7-8 days (It all started two weeks ago wednesday, the day of my last post, well I was sick that day, it got worse as the day went on until I was incredibly sick)   and I am still feeling wiped and bushed, and it is all I can do to drag my butt from the bed to the couch and back again.  When I get feeling a little better I am going to look this disease up some more and I will post again.  

-one sorry sick feeling like a wimp person