So I have wanted to post about this day on here for SO long - but of course, that would have given away the surprise, so I couldn't! Now that it is finally over, I have realized I have a great passion for planning surprise parties - it was sooo much work, but oh so fun!
It all started back when my hubby finally finished his Bachelor of Social Work degree at the end of July - I knew I wanted to throw him a party with family and friends to celebrate, but it seemed a bit anti-climactic to do it before he had a job. And so I waited....and waited...and waited some more! Finally, after about 50 job applications (everyone is always looking for someone with experience!) and about 10 interviews, he was offered a position with West Region CFS here in Winnipeg. His start date was only a week and a half before Christmas - which meant planning a party in December amidst everyone's Christmas celebrations would be next to impossible. So, after talking it over with his mom and sister, we decided that Jan. 17th would be a great date. I made up invitations and got them sent out at the end of December. Then I began planning.
In my mind, a party isn't a party without games, so I started coming up with a list of things we could do - and settled on some social work trivia questions and "Pin the Heart on the Social Worker". Sounds kind of cheesy, but I planned on printing out a life-size poster of Jared and using that as the game board. I also wanted to incorporate a "Sexiest Sweater Vest" contest, since they are a staple in Jared's wardrobe. I printed that one on the invite so everyone knew to wear a vest the day of! The next few weeks were spent tracking RSVP's and getting prizes and a food list organized.
After one message on our machine that Jared overheard about the sweater vest contest, he started getting suspicious. We also bought his grad gift (I needed his approval before I bought it, so he knew about it before-hand), but I told him he couldn't use it yet. That also tipped him off that something was up. And then the weekend of the party, a bunch of my family members were in town. So, he gathered that SOMETHING was up - but he didn't know when or where. Thankfully, my family all 'left' well before the party, so when I told Jared we were going to his mom's for supper Sunday evening, he didn't suspect anything was happening that evening.
The week of the party was a bit of a crazy one. I had to figure out when to bake the cake and buy the food and print off this poster - and then somehow get it all over to his mom's place without him noticing. I managed to print off the poster on the Thursday/Friday while Jared was at work and hide it without him seeing it. It gave me a bit of grief trying to get it all printed and cut out and taped together - but it was totally worth it in the end. Friday was also the day I did all the grocery shopping and baked the cake. Then brought it, the rest of the food, the decorations, and his gift over to his mom's before supper and stashed everything in her laundry room until the next day.
Saturday my mom and step-dad were in town to help us fix our back door - turns out it's a bit of a bigger project than we had anticipated, so it will have to wait until spring when it's warmer. But the dilemma after we realized that was how were Mom and I going to get out of the house without Jared to go over to his mom's and decorate??? We had planned on "taking the kids to the mall to play" - but now that the door wasn't going to be worked on, Jared and Ken could have come along. I finally said that Mom and I wanted to shop and it would be easier without the kids - plus Shaela needed a nap, so would Jared and Ken mind staying home with the kids? It worked like a charm and we booted it over to Jared's mom's and spent the next three and a half hours decorating the cake, blowing up balloons, and hanging streamers. That evening we said good-bye to my parents and my sister spent the night after having spent the day at the Bridal show with a friend of hers. The next day she came to church with us, but "left" to go home shortly after lunch.
Jared laid down to nap in the afternoon with Shaela, and I spent the next two and a half hours worrying that he would somehow figure out on the way to his mom's that something was up. I had visions of him getting into the house before I did and missing the entire 'surprise'. Finally, it was time to go, and I had devised a brilliant plan!
In the van on the way over I told him I really needed to go to the washroom and asked if he could get Shaela out of the van when we got there - that would buy me enough time to run inside to yell "Surprise" with everyone else. Well, turns out our son fell asleep on the way over, so Jared had to carry him inside - but it still worked out. I grabbed Shaela and ran for the door. Got inside a few moments before Jared did - I basically had enough time to turn around and watch him open the door.
His initial reaction was, "What is going on?!?!?!" since there were a whole bunch of people inside the house. Then we all yelled "Surprise!" and he finally realized that this was what all the fuss had been about! He was very shocked and a little overwhelmed at first - but in a good way. After greeting guests for a few minutes, I gave a short speech - thanking his mom for hosting and for all the others who helped make it possible. And also said a few words to Jared about how proud I am of him. We've had a lot of obstacles to overcome in the last four years while he's been finishing his degree - and I'm soooo incredibly proud of his accomplishment in finishing and finally landing a great job!
I was in a bit of a rush to ice the cake - and my icing gun is broken - so it's not as pretty as I would have liked - but it tasted good!
The infamous poster print. Doesn't he look handsome?!?!
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