no party will ever measure up...

Today is my MIL's birthday. She's celebrating 5 hours away. I am the lame daughter-in-law who sent nada for her big day. She is the queen of cards with confetti, holiday packages for the kids (and usually something sweet for me) and I did nothing for her.. Not even send the kids' pictures they colored for their Grandmother. Does it count if the birthday card is postmarked by their birthday? If so, I am not in the daughter-in-law dog house.

I've had better years. I plotted months early to make THIS poster-sized emotion picture for her birthday a couple of years ago. That was pretty cool. But it wasn't anything compared to what we did for her 50th birthday. Eight years ago, when Ben was a baby, we lived a few short miles from them in BYU-land. Several weeks before her birthday, I got a long list of her contacts and sent out an email to anyone who might have crossed her path along the way. I asked them to send me a letter for Brandy along with any memorable pictures. I made a big scrapbook for her with everyone's letters. It was pretty awesome. The pages from her kids were very special, but I will never forget the amount of letters I received from people around the country. Aaron's family moved every couple of years when he was growing up.. and no matter where they lived, it seemed as though Brandy settled in quickly and went about changing the lives of those she met. I got emotional several times while compiling this scrapbook. I realized then (and have never forgotten) that no matter WHERE you live, you can find family. You have to put forth the effort... You have to invite people over... You have to reach out... and when you do, you will reap the rewards of life-long friendships. Brandy has friends scattered around this country- and into Mexico. I was so excited to finish the book and give it to her for her birthday. But you can't just wrap something up like that and hand it over, can you? Nope. You must throw a gigantic surprise party for such a gift. And so we did.

Strapping Stanley took his wife out for dinner the night of the party. We contacted everyone we knew and had them come over to their house. We got a cake, decorations, food & made a big birthday sign. Oh, and AARON'S OLDER SISTER flew in for the night. It was last minute and so crazy! I don't know how long it had been since Aaron's sister had seen her parents, but at least a year. His little sis also drove down from college to celebrate. Brandy had no idea (either did Stan, actually.) The girls stayed at our place the night before and we were all giddy just thinking about how much Brandy was going to FREAK out when she saw them. To make it even more dramatic, we decided to have the girls wait a while before they made their grand entrance at the party.

Brandy was completely floored when she walked through to the door and found her house full of people. She cried, laughed, gave everyone a hug and we all hung out in the kitchen for a little while. She was trying to get everyone to go downstairs and mingle, but we were waiting for a special phone call. Aaron's sisters were hiding upstairs and decided to call from a cell phone. They did the whole "we're calling three-way to wish you a happy birthday!" Brandy was having a hard time hearing them, so she moved out of the kitchen and RIGHT where she belonged.. at the bottom of the stairs just as her girls were walking down to surprise her. The best part of it all is when she says, "I wish you could be here" just seconds before she sees them. You have to see the reaction for yourself to know how special it was. It was pretty perfect.

This video is the most ghetto thing I've ever put on my blog. You have to realize that this was back in the day when large video cameras were in style. It's terrible quality. To make matters worse, in order to record it digitally, I played it on my old TV in my bedroom (no we don't have a flat screen or HDTV-- are you serious?) and then filmed it with my little camera. The sound is bad, the screen is bouncing all around and my lamp is reflecting off the TV screen. No matter, I am posting it anyway. For those of you who want to watch, have at it. It's about 2 minutes long (starting just before the phone rings..) If you look closely, you can see little Ben. He's in a yellow shirt and has yellow puffy hair. I don't even remember what it was like to have one puffy-haired baby. Back then, I could throw killer parties. Now, I am lucky to get a late card in the mail.

Happy Birthday Brandy! You still look as hot as ever!
People are going to start thinking I am the older one now--
not just assume we're sisters.
Hope your day is a great one!