The BIRTHDAY Surprise!!!

The surprise birthday party for Larry and Cheryl turned out great. We had some very special games planned and made. The one in this picture is concentration, all the cards are the 30 members of the Larry/Cheryl Severson clan, with one a baby picture and the match a current picture. It took forever for me to make it, but it was worth it. We had a lot of playing it. Heather and Danielle made a fantastic "fishing" trivia game that was so much fun! And we had some great dessert. But the best story about the birthday party, was the BEFORE the party story. It was so funny. They wanted to go to the beach that day, and dad was taking off work early because he wanted to come and build a bonfire and stay until dark (which obviously wouldn't work with the party). We decided to steer them away from the beach, saying it was such a busy weekend and we needed recoup time, etc. But we didn't want to much discussion or other ideas from them that would be harder to deter so we said we would really like to go to coyote hills and have a picnic for family home evening, but we needed to do it earlier so Aaron and Em could put Adele down for bed at the right time.

Well, dad poo-pooed the idea of Coyote Hills, instead opting for Sunol (both are close to home). We jumped on it. But, dad came home later than expected, and we had trouble with the picnic spots (so many were swarming with bees -yikes!!) That by the time we had eaten (and fended off about 30 wasps- the kids had a really hard time focusing on eating with so many wasps about!!) it was already time to go. But there was a big problem, just as we finished dinner dad said "well the park doesn't close until nine so we have plenty of time for a good long hike". We all looked at each other panicking. First, Danielle said "well, I didn't bring a carrying pack for Dawna". Dad swooped up Dawna and said he'd carry her and started walking!! We were all scrambling to come up with a way to circumvent this new development, because meanwhile Barbara and family, G and G severson, and G Wightman were all at the house waiting.

Quickly and discreetly it was decided to have the kids do the persuading. We asked them all to say they wanted to go home, and to whine, reminding them about the party waiting for them at home. They were GREAT!!! The Reeves girls whined "we want to go home" and jumped into their car. Aaron and Em fell back on Adele's bedtime excuse, but couldn't go because Danielle and jon were in their car. Mom and dad didn't know what was going on because they were already so far ahead, with Dawna. So, Jon, Danielle, Aaron and Em,the boys and I were stuck with the task of bringing them home without suspicion. (mom and dad were in my car) The boys performed beautifully! The whinings were so perfect that you'd think they practiced. . . . .wait, they do practice, on me! :) "We want to go home, mom!" "MO-OM we want to go HOME" "I'm tired" "Let's go home mom" all said as they were skipping down the road smiling. (good thing mom and dad were so far ahead they didn't see, only heard!) All the while, mom and dad were getting increasingly frustrated. They asked were heather and family were, and were really disappointed they had left.

When we caught up with mom and dad, Aaron and Em said they needed to get Adele back so Dawna was handed over to Jon and they all left. That left it to me. I was really worried they'd see through the boys because they know they love hiking and throwing rocks in water. But, I was nearly laughing out loud as rocks were hurled into the water to the tune of "WE want to go home". They didn't LOOK like they wanted to go home! But mom and dad were falling for it. So I finally sighed and said "OK 5 more minutes and we can go home." MOM and DAD were frowning, but didn't say anything (that's when you can tell they are really upset!!!) As we walked back to the car, mom said "when we get home, you boys need to go straight to bed. Going to bed early will be good for you!" Boy, they were too good, she must have thought that they must be tired, if they were asking to go home over rock throwing!! The boys eyes went wide and I could see the words forming "what about the surprise?!" So I jumped over and whispered "You don't have to go to bed when we get home, just play along" So Levi said, " thats okay, I want to go to bed anyway." When we got in the car grandpa asked them if they'd had any fun and at all. . . . silence, then grandpa said again "No fun at all?!?" I could see on their face the dilemma of contradicting their complaints with the truth that they really did have fun. Levi finally said "A little bit, but not so much" I had to look out the window to hide the smile. There was silence on the way back home. As we walked in the door Emily said from the living room "Dad could you come here for a minute?" He stomps in and they all yell "SURPRISE!!" and he grumpily says "what surprise." He was so perplexed, trying to get over the bad mood to enjoy the surprise. Boy, it really was funny. They had a really good laugh when they figured out the boys were playing along. The rest of the party was really great, they enjoyed all the games and the desserts, and everything went great. So definitely a success, even more so because of the disappoinment turned happiness

Paul and Becca get married, and I fall Down

Paul and Becca got married on August 12th. It was standing room only. She is the youngest of eight and Paul is the second youngest of eight. So, the picture with all the people in it? . . . Just Paul and Becca's: Granparents, parents, and siblings(with their families)! Quite a brood!!






This is just us sisters-in-law, minus Elizabeth, who was in Hawaii at the time!! I am the only one standing on the bottom step, which makes me look the shortest, when actually I am the second TALLEST. These girls are all so tiny. JoAnn and I, at 5'8" and 5"7" often feel like we are giants among the little people. Becca, Sarah, Danielle and Emily are all around 5'2", and Heather and Elizabeth are both 5'4".




After the wedding at the Oakland Temple, we headed down to Merced for the reception. It is two hours away, but took us three because of an accident on the highway. It was really neat to get to see where Becca grew up and to get to know her family better. After the reception, we all went out (in the dark) to watch them get into their newly decorated car. I had been having problems with my shoe heels sticking in the grass all night, and right then as we were all out there, let me repeat ALL out there, I had another major problem. My heel got stuck I tried to shift my balance, lost my balance, stepped forward to gain my balance and found air, no grass! There was a ditch with a hole filled with water where my foot was heading to! I tried to grab onto a guy next to me, and he, not knowing I was falling moved away. I stepped strait down into the muddy hole, where my shoe got stuck again. I tried desparately to gain my balance again, but the momentum was to much and I did a lovely summersault, skirt and all, down next to where Becca and Paul were getting into the car! Ugh, the humiliation! Good thing it was dark! My shoe stayed in the mud (you can see it in the water) and ow it hurt ripping off my foot. I had a few bruises, but my clothes came away completely clean! Not a speck on them. Crazy. Everyone asked if I was okay, except my husband, who so gallantly said "I don't know her!" Dork! Of course, everyone still had a camera so Rob snapped a picture of me in my moment of honor!