Happy 30th Birthday Matt!

My wonderful husband turned 30 on Thursday... a fact that he was not looking forward to. So in order to help make his birthday a fun memory and hopefully help erase some of the negative emotions he was feeling toward turning 30, I set out to plan a surprise party with our closest family and friends.

I wanted it to be as much of a surprise as possible, so I secretly invited friends and family, had them RSVP to my cell phone, cooked the food for the party while he was at work, stored the party food and supplies in the back of my van (hoping he didn't get in there for anything), hurriedly loaded the fridge items into the van while he was driving home from work so they could stay in the fridge as long as possible, etc. etc.

I wanted him to dress nice for the party... but wasn't sure how suspicious he would be if I offered to pick his clothes out that morning. So instead, the kids and I went shopping and bought him a new outfit to give to him as his first gift of the day :) Worked like a charm - and he loved what we picked out.

Besides the food, the other major undertaking was getting him to the party without him knowing where/why he was showing up at our church building - where the party was held. So to facilitate the transfer from our house to our church, I enlisted the help of our friends Steve and Ann Marie in a little guys vs. girls competition. I created a digital scavenger hunt and relied upon the competitive side of Matt to keep him distracted from thinking about anything other than getting the tasks done. The kids stayed at our house with a babysitter for the evening because there was no way I could throw a party with two toddlers in tow. Below are the instructions for the hunt:

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Digital Scavenger Hunt

Use the digital camera to take pictures of the following to document your completed tasks. The tasks must be completed in THIS order. First one to complete their tasks and return to the Dillard House wins a 30 minute massage from their spouse while watching the movie of their choice!!

• Take a picture of one team member next to one of the signs at John Paul II High School (which used to be Alcatel where Matt worked one summer)

• Take a picture of one team member holding a new/store copy of EITHER the book A Prayer for Owen Meany OR The Time Travelers Wife (A tribute to Matt’s love of books)

• Eat an entire (smallest-size) cup of frozen yogurt from Gooey’s. Make sure to take a picture of the yogurt eater to document the eating of said frozen yogurt (Matt really likes their yogurt)

• Frisbee golf – Throw frisbee from the parking lot at the Campbell Green splash pad to the top of the tallest slide on the playground. Take some pictures for documentation. (A celebration of Matt’s love for playing games)

• Buy a pack of baseball cards from Nick’s Sports Cards on the SW corner of Campbell and Coit. Take a picture of one team member outside of the baseball card store. (To support Matt’s love of all things baseball)

• Both team members must do a cartwheel in the Fellowship Hall of our church – Trinity Bible Church. Make sure to take a picture of both cartwheels! (Matt is very committed to our church)

• Take a picture near the Home Depot sign of one team member giving a “thumbs down” sign. (To support Matt’s dislike for fixing broken things around the house)

• Race back to the Dillard House… while obeying all traffic laws of course!

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The four of us stood in our living room and went over the ground rules of the hunt before racing to our cars. Steve and Matt together and Ann Marie and I together. I had designed it so that Ann Marie and I could show up at the first task about the same time as the guys to make them think we were really participating in the hunt. We showed up, both snapped our pictures and then headed out again.


I also designed it so that the second task could have led us to different locations so that they wouldn't be surprised not to see us again immediately... because after the first task Ann Marie and I raced straight to the church to meet some friends to get the food, tables, decorations, lights, etc. all set up before Matt got there. We had about 45 minutes to get all of that done - which we succeeded in doing! That was one of my main stresses about the evening, so I was so thankful for all of the help I had getting set up!

Here are some pictures of Matt and Steve as they finished the rest of the scavenger hunt... all the while wondering why they didn't see us at any of the other locations. They thought we were really behind and were confused because they thought we would probably be winning since the girls were the more competitive team. Hmmm... :)

Taking a picture with The Time Traveler's Wife

The empty frozen yogurt cup at Gooey's

One of our tasks was rained out - the Frisbee golf. But here is proof that they were there!

Matt holding his baseball cards

While the guys were still out hunting, I had everyone else who was attending the party assemble at the church about 15 minutes before he was to get there to intercept him mid-hunt when he arrived at our church. Steve secretly called his wife and hung up to alert us that they were there. And the moment we'd all been waiting for:

Surprise!!!

Wow!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

The group assembled to hide and yell surprise!

Matt and his Grandfather - Bodie

The happy couple

Dishing up some food

Our friends Ryan and Heather drove down from Oklahoma for the party! Thanks guys!

"Happy Birthday to you" - with mini cheesecakes

Matt's mom chatting with Matt's high school friend Adam Turner

The party room!

HUGE thank yous go to a few people: Darci, DeeDee, The Jones Family, Steve and Ann Marie and Matt's mom for the AMAZING amount of help they gave me setting up during the 45 minute time crunch. And thanks for being our official photographer Ann Marie - most of the photos above are courtesy of her!

Thank you so much to Adam Turner and Ryan, Heather and Erin Harkins for each driving 3+ hours to be there!

Also a huge shout out to those of you who brought enchiladas - the dinner would not have been a success without you. And Brit and Heath - thank you so much for rescuing the cheesecake and saving me from getting totally off schedule and late to set up! And thank you SO much Annie - for all of the cooking you helped me do at my house that afternoon, all of the decorations you brought and the awesome beans you made! I couldn't have done it without you all!!!

Matt loved his party and now has great, positive memories of turning 30 - success!!! We love all of you dearly and feel so blessed with the community that God has provided us here in Plano!

Click here to see some more pictures from the evening