What an amazing group of women.........I am SO blessed!!!!! On the back row: Jackie, Judy, Mom, Me, (holding a picture of Lora, who couldn't be there), my sister Harelda, Cheryl, Katie, and in front is Heather, my sister Cindy, and Kathy. 
Jackie and I have known each other LITERALLY all our lives.......from the day I was born..She had us cracking up with her story telling. Love you, girl!!!
Opening gifts...................
And PILES of cards..................Well, knock me over with a feather.........my precious daughter and my precious baby sister put their heads together and threw me a surprise party for my 50th birthday on Saturday. And a good, old fashioned SLUMBER party at that!! And to top it off, the house was full of my girlfriends that I went to school with. We are still a very close group of girls, and we get together once in a while to catch up on each other, and laugh and act silly. I am blessed beyond measure to have these adorable girls to go through life with. We've seen each other through everything you can imagine, and we are always there for each other at a moments notice. It is a very rare and precious gift that I treasure in my heart, and each passing year just gets even sweeter.
That being said, let me tell you about the wonderful evening we had........I arrived at Heather's house shortly before 7:00, and of course, everyone was already there, huddled in the kitchen , and when I came around the corner, there they were, and I was (almost) speechless! They wasted no time in getting the party started, and we ate pizza, drank soda's, and I had TWO cakes!! Angel food, of course, one was a confetti cake, and the other a strawberry flavored with pink frosting, and a tiara on top!! There was a GIANT tiara shaped helium balloon, all set out on a pink tablecloth, with pink plates, glasses, napkins,.......everything!!!! I was in my little pink happy world!!!! It was beautiful!!! After eating our pizza and visiting, we all gathered in the living room to open my gifts, and cards galore!! Each one was so special, and so personal, and I will keep them all forever!!! Some were tear-jerkers, (which I made Jackie read for me, 'cause I couldn't read them through my tears), and some were hysterically funny, and we laughed till our sides ached! Heather even gave me some cute new jammies to wear that night, since she couldn't tell me ahead of time to bring mine! LOL. She thought of everything!!! So then we snacked, and got to telling stories from our school days, and sharing memories that had the whole room just rolling!! Then, alas, the ones who couldn't stay all night started getting ready to leave, and the crowd thinned out a bit.........but not the fun and laughter!! Heather, Mom, Jackie, Kathy and I put our jammies on, and got our second wind, and got out the Wii, and laughed till we could hardly breathe!!!! I couldn't BELIEVE that James slept through the gales of laughter and whooping and hollering that was going on!!! Finally, around 2:00, we decided we better get some sleep, since James would be up early to wake us up. But then he slept in till almost 7:30, so it wasn't so bad. Breakfast was served........banana nut muffins, apple danish, and we needed the coffee!! I took my first sip of coffee, and my eyes bugged out..........come to find out, Jackie made the coffee, and as she puts it, she likes her coffee to "snap her head up", and lemme tell ya........IT DOES!!!!!! But we drank it, and then made yet another pot, this time flavored........I don't remember what it was, but it was YUMMY!!!! All good things must come to an end, and this was no exception. People started leaving around mid-morning, and I got home about 11:00.
My mind is still reeling.........and I have so many sweet, new memories to recall at any time, and trust me, it will be OFTEN!!! I have no words to express my love and gratitude to Heather, Cindy, Mom, Harelda, Susan, Cheryl, Katie, Judy, Kathy, Jackie, and sweet baby James. And I can't tell this story without telling you what my son-in-law did.........he actually went out and slept in his semi-truck in the driveway, so "the girls" could have the house to ourselves!!!! Have you ever heard of such???? Thank you, Rick!!! Yur a sweetie!!!!
On a side note........I knew at the party that Cindy wasn't being "cindy", but little did we know at the time how sick she was, and how much pain she was in. She wound up in the E.R. the next morning with a RAGING bladder infection!!!! Thankfully, she is feeling better today, and should be just fine by Thanksgiving. I love you, baby sister, more than you'll ever know!!!
That being said, let me tell you about the wonderful evening we had........I arrived at Heather's house shortly before 7:00, and of course, everyone was already there, huddled in the kitchen , and when I came around the corner, there they were, and I was (almost) speechless! They wasted no time in getting the party started, and we ate pizza, drank soda's, and I had TWO cakes!! Angel food, of course, one was a confetti cake, and the other a strawberry flavored with pink frosting, and a tiara on top!! There was a GIANT tiara shaped helium balloon, all set out on a pink tablecloth, with pink plates, glasses, napkins,.......everything!!!! I was in my little pink happy world!!!! It was beautiful!!! After eating our pizza and visiting, we all gathered in the living room to open my gifts, and cards galore!! Each one was so special, and so personal, and I will keep them all forever!!! Some were tear-jerkers, (which I made Jackie read for me, 'cause I couldn't read them through my tears), and some were hysterically funny, and we laughed till our sides ached! Heather even gave me some cute new jammies to wear that night, since she couldn't tell me ahead of time to bring mine! LOL. She thought of everything!!! So then we snacked, and got to telling stories from our school days, and sharing memories that had the whole room just rolling!! Then, alas, the ones who couldn't stay all night started getting ready to leave, and the crowd thinned out a bit.........but not the fun and laughter!! Heather, Mom, Jackie, Kathy and I put our jammies on, and got our second wind, and got out the Wii, and laughed till we could hardly breathe!!!! I couldn't BELIEVE that James slept through the gales of laughter and whooping and hollering that was going on!!! Finally, around 2:00, we decided we better get some sleep, since James would be up early to wake us up. But then he slept in till almost 7:30, so it wasn't so bad. Breakfast was served........banana nut muffins, apple danish, and we needed the coffee!! I took my first sip of coffee, and my eyes bugged out..........come to find out, Jackie made the coffee, and as she puts it, she likes her coffee to "snap her head up", and lemme tell ya........IT DOES!!!!!! But we drank it, and then made yet another pot, this time flavored........I don't remember what it was, but it was YUMMY!!!! All good things must come to an end, and this was no exception. People started leaving around mid-morning, and I got home about 11:00.
My mind is still reeling.........and I have so many sweet, new memories to recall at any time, and trust me, it will be OFTEN!!! I have no words to express my love and gratitude to Heather, Cindy, Mom, Harelda, Susan, Cheryl, Katie, Judy, Kathy, Jackie, and sweet baby James. And I can't tell this story without telling you what my son-in-law did.........he actually went out and slept in his semi-truck in the driveway, so "the girls" could have the house to ourselves!!!! Have you ever heard of such???? Thank you, Rick!!! Yur a sweetie!!!!
On a side note........I knew at the party that Cindy wasn't being "cindy", but little did we know at the time how sick she was, and how much pain she was in. She wound up in the E.R. the next morning with a RAGING bladder infection!!!! Thankfully, she is feeling better today, and should be just fine by Thanksgiving. I love you, baby sister, more than you'll ever know!!!
