A Night to Remember!!!

If you know me, you know I LOVE a good party! And, if you've hung around with me, you might know that I tend to love a good Karaoke night :)  On Saturday night my amazing family combined both and threw me one incredible surprise 40th birthday party!!!

I should back up just a little bit.  I probably had one of the toughest weeks of my life last week.  Without going into great detail, I had A LOT weighing on my mind and I was not in a good place with a lot of decisions ahead of me.  Aaron and Zach had "plans to go to their hunt club on Saturday" so my amazing girlfriends planned a girls day out, and just to make sure I was dressed for the occasion they said we were all getting dressed up and having a "Sex in the City" kind of girls day out.  We started the day with an amazing lunch and followed that up with a lot of shopping.  And I was HAPPY!   Tabitha was working overnight so we had plans that evening to go out to dinner with the husbands.  I had texted Aaron towards the end of our day out and asked if they were home yet and laid out the dinner plans.  He said that was fine, but that there had been a fundraiser that day at the FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) lodge that he's a member of  and that he had was responsible for locking up so he would be home by 7.  About 45 minutes later he called me and said that I needed to come to the lodge because he was moving a heavy cooler and it had dropped on his foot and he thought he broke his foot and that Zach was freaking out.  So we dropped everything we had in our hands and started driving to the FOP to go get him - only I didn't know where the FOP was!  So he was trying to give me directions and Leslie, who was driving, was PRETENDING she thought she knew where it was, even though she had been there earlier that day!  The whole time we were driving there I was getting so anxious, planning on where we would go for x-rays, how was I going to get him in his truck - and making comments like, great, whose going to carry Alex up and down the stairs if he has a broken foot???  Whose going to bathe her, how am I going to take care of him AND Alex, etc!   We pulled up and the only car that was in the parking lot was Aaron's.  Zach met me at the door and was walking me in and I said "Where is Daddy???"   And.....SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!  The DJ started blaring music, people were blowing horns and yelling SURPRISE and all I could do was burst out in tears and run out of the room!!!  I was SO surprised!   My birthday isn't for another two weeks so I wasn't expecting anything AND honestly, I DID not think Aaron had it in him to plan a party!   I know now he had a lot of help, but they have been planning this since March - AND Zach has known the WHOLE time - and NO ONE acted any different!  I told Aaron I was now second guessing our whole marriage because he's apparently a VERY good liar!!!!! 

To see everyone that I hold SO dear to me in one room that came out to celebrate me was such an incredible feeling.  I really wish I could adequately put into words how special everyone made me feel.  It was perhaps one of the best nights of my life and I am still smiling every time I think about it days later. 

I have to say a HUGE thank you to my parents, my in-laws, my sister and her husband, my brother and sister-in-law, and my husband.  You all worked so hard and put SO much effort into ensuring I had a fabulous night and I can't thank you all enough.  You all love me so unconditionally and I'm incredibly blessed to be part of such of a loving family.  And to all of my friends that came to celebrate with me, you all have such a special place in my heart and I'm such a better person for having all of you in my life.  To say thank you just doesn't seem to say enough.  Please know that you all are so special to me and I'm the person I am because of all of you.  This was definitely a night that will remain one of my happiest memories for a lifetime.

Now for the pictures... (I didn't have my camera so a big thank you to my mother in-law for taking all of the pictures)

The decorations my parents and sister put so much time and effort into....on each table there was a different picture of me throughout my life, and I KNOW everyone got a great big kick out of some of them!

 

My dad hard at work stirring his famous sauce!

Here's a picture of my mom, me and my sister watching a DVD my sister any my brother-in-law put together commemorating my 40 years....probably the best gift ever.

The three co-conspirators that kept me busy all day...Leslie, Mesa and Dana.

My two favorite men...

My sweet girl who was trying to figure out what was going on!

My in-laws, Zach, Tabitha and Alex

Family pictures....

My sister, me and my brother

Aaron, my sister Dana, my sister in-law Rebecca, my brother in-law Shane, me and my brother Danny

My in-laws John and Joan who drove hours to be here and were a big part of the planning all the way from Rochester, NY.

My parents and my in-laws

Me and my love

Me, my favorite Jonah and my Best Friend Dana

The Dancing...

Mom and Dad...

I love this picture

Alex "dancing" with her Daddy...

 Part of our Conga line....where my son informed me "It's all in the hips Mom!"

No party is complete without the Electric Slide!

This was only one of the rows we had going!

Mmm, Dunno what dance this was!

Or this one, but I suppose this counts as dancing!

My friends...

Some of my special Moms...Shelby, Jen, Dara and Shannon - an amazing group of women!!

My girls Leslie and Mesa

 My other girls Nicole and Rhonda

Scott and Leslie

Our BFF's Dara and Jerry!

 

And last but not least my new friend Nick...if you ever need a DJ, I highly recommend you contact me for his info!

And now on to the Karaoke pictures...!!

I think I will refrain from commenting on any of these!!
Take my word for it it was SO much fun and quite the show!

 Ok, I do have to comment on this one, yes not ONLY did my husband actually sing, but he put on quite the air guitar show to go with it!

The boys were only there for a bit in the beginning, but they made sure they sang before they left! 

Again, perhaps one of the best nights of my life - THANK YOU to everyone who had a hand in it - as I'm blogging I have still have a big smile on my face :)