SURPRISE!

A few weeks ago, I suggested to my mom that she and I should host a baby shower for my friend/bridesmaid, Abriel. We knew she would be in town for the bridesmaid dress shopping, and all the other girls would be around, so it seemed like perfect timing. My mom and I went to work, emailing back and forth, making plans and laying out groundwork for a surprise baby shower. She spoke to Abriel's mom, who wanted to have the shower out at her house. I emailed a couple of the other girls to help us bring food. We went shopping for baby-themed paper products and ordered matching balloons. I decided I was going to supply the favors - I had found some gorgeous cake pops on bakerella.com, and wanted to replicate them as something unique and special for Abriel.

So I spent all day Saturday, being careful about what I said around Abriel, catching myself while talking to the other girls. At one point, Abriel mentioned "Oh, I told Sandie to bring them to the shower tomorrow..." and everyone froze and looked at me, but I just though, "Oh, bummer...Abriel knows about her surprise shower!" But, you know, no biggie. We got through the rest of the day with no other "slip-ups," and I woke up bright and early on Sunday, ready to get to Melinda's house and get set up for the shower.

My mom and I got everythign ready - packed up the bus, picked up the balloons, and headed out to Melinda's house. We were scheduled to get there around 12:30, so we had 30 minutes to set up before Melinda and Abriel were getting home from church. As we got close to the house, my mom remembered that she still had my sister's coat in the car, so she called Callie and told her that she'd call her after the shower to make plans to drop it off, but since we were almost at Melinda's, she couldn't do it now.

We pulled into the driveway and as we approached the house, I noticed a big crowd standing on the front porch. I thought to myself, "Oh no...everyone beat us here!" But as we got closer, I started noticing people who didn't belong there - most notably, my college roommates. As the reality of the situation hit me, I turned to my mom and said, "Those aren't Abriel's friends, those are my friends!" I started to laugh/cry, and my mom stopped the bus, telling me she'd drop me off at the sidewalk instead of going ahead to park the car. I got out of the car to a chorus of "Surprise!" and walked up to greet all of my closest friends and family.

Those sneaky girls had been planning for that to be my bridal shower for weeks, and when I suggested Abriel's baby shower, I gave them the perfect excuse to get me to Melinda's! As I learned of all the elaborate plans they'd made, and the multiple opportunities for them to giggle behind my back, I was shocked - they'd really pulled off a great surprise! We played some fun games, and Matt and I got some wonderful gifts. It was so great to spend the day with [almost] all of my favorite people, and I had such a fantastic time seeing everyone!

Me and my girls [minus Stephy]

Aren't they gorgeous?