So everyone came into town Friday evening, checked into the hotel, and then came over to my house for dinner. We made it simple and ordered pizzas. We had so much fun just being together. With so many families so far apart, it is really hard to get every single person there. We did miss having Nicole, but we decided we will just have to plan another party after this one! We spent the night getting caught up on everything and planning for the big surprise the next morning. Daddy thought he and Mom were coming over for an Easter egg hunt for Nathan and Charlotte :) But we have other plans! While everyone was visiting, we took turns writing "Remember When" cards. Carrie got a bulletin board and index cards and had everyone write down a favorite memory or story that had to do with Daddy. They were so much fun to write! Pretty soon, we were all coming up with two or three each!
Saturday morning...Party day!
Everyone came back over to my house Saturday morning at 9:30 am. We had them park at the elementary school parking lot, and then Wayne and Chris picked them up and brought them to my house. We had an easy breakfast of bagels, waffles, cereal, fruit, cinnamon rolls, coffee and juice. It was so much fun because everyone was so excited and nervous! At 10:30, I called mom and she said Daddy had just finished walking Cookie, and they they would be over to my house. After about 30 minutes, we all got into position on the stairs and balcony. Alexandra was in charge of video taping and also being the lookout so she was in Charlotte's room. A few minutes later, Mom called me and acted like she thought she had missed a call from me: "Ashley, did you call me? Oh, I guess that was an old call. Anyway, we're turning into your neighborhood, see you in a minute." They're almost here!!! The front door windows had Easter window clings on them so they couldn't see in (we thought of everything!) When the doorbell rang, I opened it, and everyone yelled "SURPRISE!" Daddy looked completely shocked! In fact, Mom had to push him on inside!
All of my sisters had told Daddy they had plans for Easter: Carrie and Chris were going on a weekend trip, Lisa was going to St. Louis to visit Missy, Jen was going to Little Rock, and we were going to have a nice little Easter egg hunt...just the 6 of us! Daddy said he was in disbelief when he saw Aunt Mona and Uncle Gordon...they don't like to travel and have never been to Texas to visit, so I know it meant a lot to Dad that they were here. Missy even talked to Daddy that morning. He had called her because he was worried about the huge tornado that tore through St. Louis the night before which was right by where Missy lived. Missy was at the hotel getting ready to come over and was telling Daddy that she and Lisa had to take cover because of the storms!
After the big surprise, we had lunch and an Easter egg hunt for the kids. Nathan was excited to hunt eggs for the candy, but to make things interesting for the older kids, we hid "Golden" eggs that had money in them. Boy did those kids hunt! Then Mom and Dad took everyone back to their house. They needed to let Cookie out, plus Missy, Aunt Mona and Uncle Gordon, Chuck and Abba hadn't seen their house yet. I made another grocery run, while Carrie helped straighten up. Then everyone met back at my house for a big family portrait!
After our big family and individual family portraits, Wayne and Chris headed to Babes to pick up our dinner. Babes had the best fried chicken which is a Pearce favorite!We loaded up on fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, corn, green beans, rolls, salad, and birthday cake! While we were waiting on the guys to bring us dinner, the kids decided to take a dip in the pool! It was a bit chilly but they didn't seem to mind. This was actually Nathan's first time in this season.
To top off the night, we headed upstairs to the media room where we played a slideshow DVD of pictures of Daddy growing up. There were pictures of him as a baby, toddler, and little boy. And there were lots of pictures of all of us as we grew up with Mom and Dad. But my favorite part was at the end where we made a tribute to Mom and Dad and their marriage. Here is the link to the slideshow if you want to watch it.
We also gave Daddy a photo book that we had made from Snapfish. Each daughter and Mom wrote Daddy a letter. I scanned those in and then added pictures of each person. It's kind of like a scrapbook, only better! Happy birthday Papa! We love you!
One True Media Photo Slideshow:
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