Surprise birthday party for Mom!


Those of you that follow the Bragg Family South blog know that I've already used my "spring is here" picture of daffodils in flower in southern Arkansas...Well, it should be pretty obvious then that the picture above isn't in southern Arkansas--rather, it is looking out a hotel room in my hometown of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, from last Saturday...Yes, that REALLY is how much snow they still had on the second Saturday of March!!  I made a very quick and sneaky trip to Rhinelander last weekend for a surprise 70th birthday for my Mom.  Below, my sisters Laurie (left) and Lisa (right), our family's "craft queens", put together a photo montage of Mom:


Below is a picture of my sister Laurie, the conspirator-in-charge, with that clever look she sometimes gets when she's up to no good:


Here's the completed photo board, with some of the other gifts at the pizza place we went to:


Some months ago, my siblings and I began conspiring how to pull this one off--my Mom had always wanted a surprise party.  The effort was instigated by my brother John and sister Laurie, and they developed a plan over time...The goal was to have a small gathering at a local place to help keep the surprise.  The plan worked beautiful, but was no small feat--my brother John now lives in New Jersey, and I'm in Arkansas.  Other family and friends had to come from some distance, too, and arrive in time to ensure surprise...plenty of coordination was required.  Below is a picture of my brother Bob:


Below, my sister Lisa's husband, Jon, and their daughter Emma:


And here's the camera-shy Laurie, with her close friend Ingrid:


Below, from left:  my brother John's husband Jim; Emma, Leila, Lisa, Michael, and Jon Hurlburt:


I think hamming it up for the camera runs mostly in the Bayer side of the family...My Uncle Don Bayer (left) and cousin Mitch Bayer:


After all the hard work and planning--success!!  Mom was very much pleasantly surprised by the birthday party gathering:


After finally persuading her to go out that evening for a "dinner" at a college-related event (the ruse), my brother Bill helped direct Mom into this mysterious back room, where all of the sudden a bunch of people yelled "surprise" and started singing her happy birthday.  Mom's thrill in seeing each and every guest warmed my heart--it was so clear how she treasures her family and friends.  Below, sister Laurie and brother Bill recall the effort it took to get Mom there:


Below--a group picture, showing most of the guests (taken by Ingrid):


Before dining, my Dad read Psalm 128 because of how much it reminded him of Mom (it was a part of their wedding ceremony) prior to saying grace.  Below, my brother John gets ready to dig into The Haven's excellent pizza:


And here's Ingrid, the intrepid photographer and patient tolerator of Bragg family shenanigans:


Laurie picked up a very tasty large sheet cake for Mom, artistically decorated with a lot of frosting roses (so very appropriate for Rose Marie Bragg):


Mom (cool hat and all) thoroughly enjoyed all of the gifts she was given:


Gifts and celebrations aside, I think the part Mom liked the most was having so many close friends and family together, even if for just a few hours one evening.  Mom and Dad posed with their 6 kids (note how I'm the shortest of the four boys--thank goodness my sisters are shorter than me!):


We even got the Bayers together without too much silliness--from left to right, cousin Mitch Bayer, Uncle David Bayer, Mom, Uncle Don Bayer:


As much as I wanted to enjoy a longer stay in Rhinelander, I had to begin the rest of my trip.  I had a load of items I needed to deliver to Hope's parents in Michigan, and then I had to immediately travel to southern Illinois for a business meeting.  Though it encompassed a whole lot of miles in a very short time, I was so glad I was able to make the trip, and to be there for Mom's surprise party! 

Comments

Anonymous said…
you have such nice pictures, don. it makes me think i need to go back to lugging my big cannon around again and that i need to stop relying on my phone to take pics---it's just so convenient!

lulu
6:44 AM
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