Brought to tears.............

Hubby asked me 3-4 weeks ago where I would like to go to dinner for my birthday.  I told him and he "said" he made reservations for us and 7 others.  I got ready and we left to go and pick up our friend, Gerri.  She was riding with us to the restaurant.  The road to her house in rather long and then she has a long and winding driveway off of that. Well, when we made the last curve and her house was in view I saw that there were lots of cars at her house and I saw balloons, a banner and lots of dear friends on her front porch.

My heart began to race as we neared the front porch and by this time I had figured out that "someone" had planned a surprise birthday party for me.  As you can see from the photos I was completely overcome, totally surprised and brought to tears.

I think I likely had the perfect reaction that anyone wants when they work hard to surprise someone.  I cannot believe I did not have an inkling!

It was all Hubby's idea and then he enlisted the help of these two dear, dear friends to bring it to pass.  He knew with them guiding him, it would be done right and it definitely was. It was perfection!  After talking with Gerri (on the right in top pic) she told Hubby she wanted to host the dinner in her home.  Tommy was going to have it catered and  the told her to contact Andrea (The Flower Tree) about the flowers.  That still left tables to be set and just general preparation for such an event.  But, Gerri, did it all with such style and grace in her beautiful home.

The floral arrangements were just gorgeous, all done by  my favorite floral designer here in town.

I have a long history with each and every person that was there and it just made my heart even more thankful for the gift of friendship.

Everyone in attendance had a wonderful time.  The meal was delicious and the wait staff did such an awesome job with serving, picking up and cleaning up. Not one complaint. They never missed a beat! After dinner we all gathered in the living area for a time of reminiscing and what fun to share in days gone by.

AND, this man right here is a jewel!  He loves to take pictures about as much as I do and he knew that I would want pictures of absolutely EVERYTHING and he made sure that happened.  He was snapping before I arrived, when I arrived and all during the celebration.  I was more than a little appreciative of him giving of his time to do this so that I would have pictures to look back on in the years to come.

And, this man!  Well, I think I'll keep him around a while longer.  We working on year #52 currently and in these 51+ years of marriage he has never even come close to surprising me to the point of absolutely taking my breath away and bringing me to tears.  Needless to say, it was a celebration I will remember forever.

And, as if that wasn't enough............he has given me a trip to Israel.  I have always wanted to go and he cares nothing about going.

So, this dear, dear friend and I are going together as her husband cares nothing about going either. We are beside ourselves with excitement.  We will go the first of Nov. for 10 days.

So, that's a wrap for my 70th birthday.  I'll lay it to rest and "keep on keeping on" and look forward to what lies ahead.