SURPRISE! Happy Birthday to me.....

A couple of months ago I asked Brad what we should do for my birthday. My 30th birthday - yikes! He told me not to worry about it. So I didn't! I figured he had something up his sleeve, but had no idea what it could be.

I had an idea in my head that my parents or some part of my family would be coming out to celebrate, but Brad kept saying to keep my expectations low. He almost gave it away when we were grocery shopping that week and we bought cinnamon rolls. We never buy cinnamon rolls! And we never buy the exact same kind that my family eats all the time. Hmmm.....

So the day before my birthday (Friday the 10th), we picked Nolan up like we do every day and I just couldn't stand it anymore. I kept asking and Brad wouldn't budge! He finally said we were headed to the mall to go shopping for a new winter coat for me, which I had been looking for for awhile. Then we were headed to dinner at Macaroni Grill - I didn't even get to pick the restaurant and it was my birthday weekend! I told Brad it was a great idea, and all the time I'm thinking, "This is the big secret???" We got to the mall and I found a coat at the first place we stopped! Of course - I knew exactly what I wanted. Then we played in the kiddie land for awhile and got Nolan a balloon. All this time Brad was texting and on the phone - I was NOT happy about it, and kept letting him know! Now, if anyone has been to the mall with me, you know I don't like to stroll through. I like shopping, but I'm a fast walker (blame Polly!). Brad was just walking along like he had nothing better to do and it was driving me nuts! We're finally close to the door and I had to yell at him to come on because I was hungry!!! So a quick stop to the car to drop off my coat and then we'd eat. But no! More texting and phone calls that I couldn't hear. I shot him one of my looks, and he told me I'd be happy the next day, not to worry about it right now. Then he gets me in this huge bear hug where he buried my face in his shoulder. A little suspicious, but I didn't catch on at all!!

We finally go into the restaurant and he heads straight for the bathroom. He had just gone at the mall!!! I had no idea what was going on. Then we stopped at the hostess stand and the girl said his name and I thought it was someone he went to high school with that he wasn't introducing me to. About halfway to the very back of the restaurant, I figured it out. Wow, am I slow!! So then of course I was fixing my hair and fixing Nolan's sweater. (Oh, by the way, Brad had even thought to bring Nolan's cute little sweater that we had just gotten :) )

So....I was right about my parents coming to celebrate! I saw them first and started crying. Then I saw Cary, and then Rhiannon (Ryan & Mark were there too, I just didn't see them right away for some reason) and started crying even more! I was so surprised and excited - I totally didn't expect to see all of my family! I hugged Brad and told him I was sorry for being a jerk and yelling at him. Of course, he just laughed. I hugged everyone else and handed Nolan off to Nanny. Then I got the details....

Melissa and Jason had gone to the airport to pick everyone up and they were in the parking lot at the exact same time we were! That was the reason for the big bear hug to bury my face so I wouldn't see!! I had no idea. Brad and my mom had been planning this since April!! It's already happening - I'm not as quick as I used to be! haha

Dinner wasn't all Brad had planned! Afterwards, Nanny & Papa took Nolan home and the rest of us went to The Celtic, a cigar bar in downtown Denver. I had no idea, but Brad had invited a bunch of our friends to meet us there! It was so much fun, we really had a blast!

I was definitely chatty that night!

My little party planner

Mark & Cary

(NOTE: There's no picture of Ryan & Rhiannon at The Celtic because it seems like Ryan just can't refrain from making a certain gesture whenever there's a camera around. Will he ever grow up??? :) )

My nieces and nephews all stayed with their other grandparents, so it was nice to have all the adults together (plus Nolan got Nanny & Papa time to himself!), and that doesn't happen very often. We even sat down and all played Trivial Pursuit after Nolan went to bed one night. (FYI - Ryan & Rhiannon won, but only because somehow there must have been some Junior Trivial Pursuit questions and they just happened to get them all!)

We didn't have anything else planned for the weekend, and despite the crappy weather, we had a great time. We watched lots of football and just relaxed. I think everyone at some point took a nap during the day.

Can you find all 9 of us? Well, 8, I'm taking the picture! haha

We had a little birthday party for Nolan Saturday night and I got to practice my baseball cupcakes that I planned to make for his big party the next weekend. Good thing! My idea of making the baseball laces out of icing didn't really pan out, so we came up with another idea (pictures to come in a later post)!

Mom was sneaky, bringing the '30' candles!

The candles spell NOLAN!

Everyone left Sunday night except my mom and dad, so Nolan stayed home with them on Monday. They got him a wagon for his birthday and he loves it!! Mom and I took him for a walk when I got home from work (luckily, I was able to take the afternoon off) and he just waved at everyone when we went by....too cute!

Eating ice cream with Nanny before bedtime. This is definitely a Nanny tradition with all the grandkids. I'm not sure what else would make Nolan sit still for that long!

Nanny & Nolan with his new wagon.

Brad did a great job organizing everything and keeping it a secret! I was so surprised and happy! My week started out rough (I had to have a root canal re-done a few days before and it was still giving me some problems), but I ended up having a great weekend and a wonderful, very memorable birthday! Thanks, babe!! :)

So I have trouble making a long story short. Oh well! Guess that comes with old age, right?