House of Dedons: Happy 60th Sue Snelling!!!

Since Sue doesn't like surprise parties, her children decided to plan a party for her, waiting to tell her two days prior to the event. Sneaky, I know, but then it wasn't technically a surprise party. We all met on Wednesday, her birthday, at Puerta Vallarta and we gave her some of the gifts from the children. Rebecca had also given her a card with the invitation that we had sent out so that she could see what we had done. It was great. She couldn't believe it but was excited for the party. Mark wasn't involved in the planning, so he could plead the 5th and not get in trouble.

Think one of the kids took this picture at Puerta Vallarta.

Since Sue turned 60, we had to give her an old lady purse filled with all sorts of things that old ladies need with them at all times ie. candies, snacks, a cheap pair of shoes, a National Inquire for sophisticating reading, fiber one tablets, and Ben gay. It was great.

Josh couldn't come to the party that day because he had been in the ER the night before with a temp of 104, so he was home sleeping. But he did make the party of Friday.

There is the red purse that we gave her as the new "Grandma" purse. $3 at Walmart.

She also got 60 lottery tickets for her birthday in hopes of winning millions. It didn't happen, but it was exciting while it lasted.

This was the first reaction from Sue when she read the invitation sent out for her party. The look is a smile mixed with "I'm going to kill you if this is true". The next picture shows the true reaction once it sank in. She thought it was a joke at first since she had said no surprise party.

It all sank in during this time and then she realized that her daughters had deceived her.

We also had to add insult to injury by sticking the Mexican hat on her and screaming happy birthday throughout the restaurant. We were pretty brave to do all of this in one night.

Kids are always looking for a reason to try on a different hat. They thought it was great

Jonah bought Marna a Snuggie, which is a huge joke in out house. I think the kids really want to use it.

Friday, the day of the party, came and there was a lot of set up and food prep to make sure that all fell into place by 6:00 p.m. We had great help from a good friend of hers, Mrs. Stewart. We couldn't have done it without her. She did most of the food placement and prep.

Balloons were placed, lights were put up on the ceiling to add more to the white room. We dimmed the lights for dramatic effect, and we were on our way.

Everything turned out much better than we had thought. We just weren't sure how it was all going to play out.

Rebecca did the tables and she did a great job.

Sarah worked just as hard and she is working for two. she was tired by the end of the night, but we appreciated all her help. She only has about 6 weeks to go.

Mrs. Stewart doing her magic with all the food.

Mark's family arrived early and we even put them to work moving chairs. We appreciated all the help we could get.

Almost fell off the step stool a couple times as i tried to hurry putting lights up from the ceiling. Slow down is a good rule.

The cheesecake dessert table. There were pumpkin, chocolate, apple, and chocolate chip mint. Boy they were good. Mrs. Stewart and Reba did a great job.

Thomas even came and hung out with all of us for quite awhile. He had a great time sharing the lime light with Marna.

Last minute prep work with lighting the candles

Reba and her Aunt, Sue's sister, came with her husband, Owen. Their daughter, Amanda, was at our house helping out by babysitting. It really worked out well. Amanda did a great job and the kids had a blast.

Picture of Sue walking in with Mark behind her trying to hide. She handled the center of attention quite well........until

Everyone decided to sing her happy birthday right at that moment.

Mrs. Stewart

We ended up having about 40 people at the party which is what we were expecting. It was a great turn out.

We immediately started the food line since people were hungry and we could no longer walk by the food table without picking.

Friends from Sue's school who came in honor of her 60th

Someone even took a picture of us dressed up, which doesn't happen very often.

Mark's parents were able to come.

Hannah did a power point presentation on what was going on in the world in 1949. It was great to see. She even did a game, "what did things cost during that year." Great job Hannah

This was a picture from the stage of the crowd watching Hannah

Once the dessert table opened up, there was no stopping anyone. The cheesecakes were incredible.

Thomas and Aunt Reba

Then the fun part of the evening began. Sue almost didn't go up in front, but it was the cattle prod I used that changed her mind. Rebecca had put together 5 hats that Sue wears and has worn in her life. Rebecca worked on these at home and it was funny.

This was her librarian hat, and yes, we made her put all of them on so we could get pictures. Priceless

What a GREAT look for you Sue!

Then there was the home education major that she got in College where she learned to cook, clean etc and take care of a man.

Those of you who know Sue knows that she doesn't walk away from a remodeling challenge or do it yourself project, so she tried on this hat.

She is the tech person in her building but despite that, she is the technology queen anywhere she goes. This is what lights her fire. The hat was great. There was a computer mouse wrapped around the hat