Rick's Surprise Birthday PaRtY!

Rick turned 23 years old on March 13....and we surprised him with a birthday party! I don't think he had a clue until he walked in the door and saw all of us standing there, singing happy birthday to him. All of his family was there, my family, my cousin Janelle, and Jon, a friend of Rick's. It was so fun to surprise him for his birthday!

Don't judge the Christmas wrapping paper :)

So, here's the story:

The few days before his birthday he hadn't been feeling very good. The night before his birthday finally came and he informed me that he wasn't going to his classes the next day. Ah! We had originally planned out that he would go to classes and then study until 5pm after which he thought we were going to go out to dinner together... that was a little bit of a white lie just to try and keep the party a secret:) My mom had been planning on picking me up while he was in class and taking me to Spanish Fork, where the party was going to be, and we were going to prepare for the surprise party. Rick was going drive down later after classes and studying and be totally surprised. Since he decided not to go to class I panicked.

Anyway, the next morning came and he said that maybe he would just come to Spanish Fork with and rest, since he still wasn't feeling totally better, and maybe do some homework. Well, I kindly said that he couldn't because I was going to be wrapping birthday presents. I thought that comment would blow the surprise because yes, technically I could wrap presents in a different room than him but he didn't ask so I didn't tell. So we came to the conclusion that he would stay in Provo at our apartment and get a nap, where it would be much more quiet, and then do a little homework and then come to Spanish Fork.

All was going well. He had taken a much needed 3-ish hour nap and then woke up to do statistics homework. But then around 4pm, he called. He called and said that he thought he would probably come to Spanish Fork now and if I was done wrapping presents, etc... I felt so bad saying it but I told him he still couldn't come. I can only imagine what was going through his mind. He was probably wondering why, on HIS birthday, that I was spending so much time in SF and not allowing him to come down there. The problem with letting him come early is because everyone that was invited was planning on coming at 5:15pm and he would be there around 5:30pm. So, when he called, I happened to be at the store getting balloons so I casually said, "Well, I'm out running errands and I'm not even there. So could you maybe not leave until 5-ish?" He agreed and I again thought to myself that he probably knows something is going on.

Well, everyone arrived just in time. Rick was a little bit later than 5:30 so that was good! He walked in and totally hadn't expected anything! I had told him to call me when he was passing under the bridge and over the railroad tracks near my parents home so that I could get Kimbri into her carseat and we could leave to head to Salem where we were going to drop Kimbri off at Rick's parents house and go on his birthday date. Obviously when he walked in, he got his birthday surprise that he hadn't been expecting at all and it was so fun!

We sang happy birthday and then had dinner. My mom helped me soooo much to get the food all ready. We made poppyseed chicken with rice (one of Rick's favorite meals), green bean casserole, and Rick's mom, Sundee, made incredible homemade rolls! It was delicious!!! After everyone was done eating we all sat around and chatted for a while and then had Rick open his birthday presents. My parents got him (and me) big towels for this summer with a huge umbrella to help shade Kimbri when we go to Seven Peaks! I got him a set of 'Rook' cards. We have a lot of fun playing that game with our families when we visit for Sunday dinner. I also gave him Hunger Games movie tickets for the opening night!! Scheduled to show at 12:33am on March 23, 2012!!! Finally, I gave him a painting that I did of the Draper Temple, where we were married. I was really excited to give him that because I had been oh so very sneaky working on it only at my parents house when I was there visiting while he was in class or at work. 

Hunger Games movie tickets!!!

Beach Towels!! I can't wait to use those:)

One of the cute poems from his siblings.

Rick opening the painting of the Draper Temple

After presents we had cake and sang happy birthday again. Then Sundee had offered to babysit Kimbri for us so that we could still go on a little birthday date. We went to Nickle City and we had a buy one admission get one free coupon! We have gone there once before and I think it brings out the competitiveness in us both:) We divide up the nickles that we have and see who can get the most tickets by the end. It was so fun and we felt like little kids the whole time but we had a blast! Afterward we drove back to Salem to pick up Kimbri. She was sound asleep in Sundee's arms. That's where Rick opened his presents from his family. He got a really nice toolbox from his parents with one of his favorite cereals, 'Waffle Crisp' inside, along with some new mechanical pencils. From his sister Jessica he got a new swimsuit. Cosette gave him a movie, 'Courageous'. And if you haven't seen it you should. It's fantastic! And his other siblings wrote him the most thoughtful, sweetest poems ever! I love all my brothers and sisters-in law.  We stayed and visited til really late and got home close to 1am. We were tired but it was a really fun day!

I hope you had a great 23rd birthday Rick! I love you!!