Mom's 60th Surprise Party

Cute  printable I found online for Mom's year of birth.

In January, Cassie and I began brainstorming ideas for our Mom's 60th birthday in April and bouncing ideas off the rest of the family.  During our December visit, my mom had said that with her last little duckling married off, she could finally go skydiving like she had always wanted to.  We decided to run with that idea and all 8 of us chipped in to buy Mom and Dad skydiving certificates to launch into this new stage of "empty nester" life without children at home.  I had also loved the experience of making a book for my Dad when he retired from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and decided I would do something similar for Mom.  For months I worked on collecting letters and pictures from family and friends and compiling them into a book.  What little free time I had was dedicated to this project for many weeks.

I've found with these projects, it is always so hard to get people to send letters by the deadline.  This gets frustrating because then you have to pull ridiculously late nights in order to get it printed in time and the pages aren't what you wanted them to look like because you are just trying to slap it together and send it off before it's too late.  However, having been on the other end (the one material is being requested from), I also know how easy it is to put those things on the "To-Do" list and put them off until the last possible minute.  Hence, the book wasn't exactly what I had envisioned aesthetically, but the content was perfect.  I was so grateful for the opportunity to compile all the letters so that I could hear all the wonderful memories people had of my Mom.  Her friends' words especially touched me and I was reminded through the process of my mother's numerous gifts and talents which so often go unsung.

Mom and I reading her birthday book.

The timing of her birthday worked out nicely as we were in Salt Lake picking up Burke's little brother Brett from his mission on Thursday.  We stayed and played on Friday with the Kirbys, went to Hoggle Zoo and picked up the most amazing commissioned Andes Mints chocolate cupcakes from my brilliant chef sister-in-law Kristen in South Jordan.

Cupcakes to die for created by Krissy.

With 5 of 8 Bushlings living out of state, it ended up just being Cassie, Amy and I with our families who threw Mumsie the surprise party.  We each contributed with different food items and Cassie made an amazing display table which highlighted many of our mother's favorite things.  Cassie and I threw all the decorations together as quickly as we could, gathering a few items from around the house that represented Mom.



The display table included things like her sewing kit, a beloved set of scriptures, chocolate chips, peppermint and her brownie pan for all the millions of brownies she has made for people over the years.  We included a scouting hat and primary song poster for her dedication to callings.  Plastic Easter eggs for her love of decorating for holidays, gardening tools, gnomes, pictures of the family, SNOWMEN (she has a plethora of them around the house during the winter months), our old dinner bell from when we were kids, John Denver music, etc...  We could have done so much more, but these were just a few of the visual reminders of the things that make our Mumsie the wonderful woman and cherished mother she is to us!




We arrived on Saturday morning while Dad took Mom golfing to get her out of the house.  We were bookin' it to try and get everything done in time.  At last, one of the kids spied them from their lookout on one of the porches and we all rushed to the basement to hide.  We turned on a bubble machine and a Beach Boys song and waited...and waited...and waited.  I think Amy restarted the song at least 4 times.  Turns out when they pulled into the driveway a neighbor had stopped to chat, so we are all waiting on pins and needles while they were shooting the breeze outside!  Haha!

The kids in various hiding places and Lydia greeting Grandma after the SURPRISE scream!

***

So, I wrote that first part in May when all of this was fresh in my memory.  It is now December and I am desperate to catch up on the blog before the new year and all of my memories are already hazy.  Can you see why I need to blog frequently so I don't forget my whole dang life?  It scares me how bad my memory is getting already.  

Bottom line: Mom was totally surprised!  The book made her cry (SUCCESS!) and made all the long hours more than worth it.  We played Minute to Win It Games, ate delicious food and watched the video Chelsea made for Mom on Mother's Day in 2013 - still makes me cry every time.  We all spent the weekend and had a wonderful time together.  

In August Mom cashed in her gift certificate and went sky diving with Karl who took Dad's place.  She was so brave and this video she sent makes me so proud of her!  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHYVyNk9zco&feature=youtu.be

We love you Momma - happy 60th!