Surprise!

This past weekend was a busy one. My mom & her friend Jodi came to visit for the weekend as well as attend my brother Steve's surprise 30th B-day party. They ended up getting in late Friday night & we enjoyed catching up while chowing down on some Papa Murphy's pizza.

Saturday we spent the morning checking out the 2011 Parade of Homes. We stayed in the Overland Park, KS area & looked at several homes from the $500,000 - $1 million range. It was a lot of fun going through all the homes & seeing all the expensive tile work, intricate details, huge rooms, closets & design of the homes. We all had our "likes" & "dislikes" of each & got lots of decorating ideas for our own homes. It is definitely something to check out if you have a free afternoon with nothing to do.

Next stop was lunch. Jodi had never experienced KC BBQ before so we HAD to make a stop into Jack Stack Fiorella's. We all enjoyed ribs, burnt ends & of course the delicious baked beans. She is now a fan :)

And no visit from my mom would be complete without a visit to Hobby Lobby. We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon browsing up & down the aisles & somehow our shopping cart became jam packed with stuff. I ended up getting a new pumpkin for the front porch that I just had to have along with some pretty Christmas ornaments & my mom got some fall decor, fabric & some ornaments as well. Even Jodi found something to buy - yarn for an afghan she is going to knit. Hobby Lobby is such a dangerous place to spend time but oh so fun! It's hard to believe Christmas is only 2 1/2 months away!!!

After our shopping excursion we headed back home & had a few hours before we were to leave for my brother's party so I whipped up his favorite dessert - a cherry pie to take with us & then we lounged around watching TV until it was time to head out.

We made our way to Parkville, MO where the party was being held & awaited the birthday boy's arrival. We were all gathered at my sister-in-law's (Meghan) mom's house for the festivities. Steve had gone golfing for the day with his brother-in-law while Meghan got everything ready. The plan was that Meghan was to get the phone call that Steve & Shawn were close by & we were to all head to the bottom of the driveway & surprise him when they turned in.

SUCCESS :)

He was more than surprised as around 40 of his closest family & friends greeted him! I think seeing my mom there was a HUGE surprise for him as she drove 9 hours to be there. To say he was speechless seeing all those people was an understatement!

There was LOTS of food, music, beverages, a bon-fire & lots of fun had by all. Meghan had this photo collage made of Steve from when he was born to the present:

And right underneath it was the dessert table with his favorite cherry pie & the cutest cookies ever of Steve's favorite things - Chicago Bears, football & beer :)

The invitation said for everyone to dress up in clothing from the year Steve was born which was 1981 so there were several who participated. Here is Meghan in her lovely floral vest & shorts set & her best "big hair" impression:
There was even an 80's shirt for Steve that he was given to wear:

Me, Steve & my mom

It was a great party & so very nice to see Meghan's family again! She did a great job of pulling off the surprise & I think the birthday boy even had a great time!

Sunday morning Steve & Meghan made there way down south & we all met for breakfast at IHOP before my mom & Jodi left town. It was really nice to spend some one-on-one time with my brother & Meghan & glad they met us.

After everyone said their goodbyes & parted ways, Shane & I headed back home for another day of painting. Lucky for me, the wind had picked up & it ended up being way to dangerous for Shane to be up on a ladder so he opted to go to the Nascar races with his dad & I did a little painting & then alot of lounging :)

It was definitely a whirlwind of a weekend & so fun to have spent it with my family!