This is kind of a funny story. For over 2 years now, I have been looking forward to giving Stephen a surprise birthday party when he turned 30. Well, I forgot about his birthday until we were already into the month of August, and by that time it was a little late to get the ball rolling I thought. I couldn't really come up with much. I ended up calling Katherine and planning a surprise party for him and Ryan the following week...kinda last minute, but we were going to make it work. I was really excited! We had already called family and friends to invite them and we were good to go. He was working on his birthday, so I thought about surprising him at the station, but the day before his birthday, Tuesday the 18th, he asked if we could celebrate his birthday "today". What was I going to say...no? Of course not. I said "Sure, but why" (with a big smile)? He never really came out and said, but I ended up pulling out of him that he wanted his presents. He is such a little boy! He said that I have accustomed him to looking forward to a certain present and he didn't think he could wait any longer, especially since the kids blew the secret and told him that they had a surprise for him...pictures. Great! One small problem, I didn't have the pictures ready, so I told him I had some work to do. He took the kids over to the farm to work on the tractor while I uploaded the pictures to the computer and sent them to Wal-Mart. I called Mrs. Herzog and asked her if she could pick up the pictures on her way home since she was already in town. She didn't mind at all. Then I decided to give Stephen his other presents after the kids woke up from their naps. One of them was a movie, "The Man from Snowy River". Since it was rainy outside we were going to turn on the movie, but now it was about time for me to start making supper. I didn't really want to be in the kitchen all by myself while Stephen and the kids were all watching a movie. So I asked him if we could order pizza and ask his mom to pick it up on her way home. He thought that was a great idea. He called his dad and they talked about the tractor and the rain, then Stephen said, "Oh dad, why don't you come here for supper because it sounds like we are having a party for my birthday". Mr. Herzog (knowing about the surprise party in a week) said "You aren't supposed to know about that". So I am thinking, ok, what do I do now? I play like I have nothing planned, because for the 18th of August, I really don't have anything planned...it is all actually quite spur of the moment. I called Mrs. Herzog, asked her to pick up the pizza, and invited her to have supper with us. She said that she wanted us to have family time before Stephen went back to work and that she and dad would eat at their home. I explained the situation to her and told her I thought it would be better if they would come and we could have a "party". She, after finding everything out, gladly complied. So that evening, we had pizza, Dr. Pepper and cake. I gave Stephen his present, the pictures, and he just loved them. Little did he know about the party Katherine and I were planning for him and Ryan in only a few short days.
Stephen, on the front porch with the kids watching the rain and opening up his presents.
He got a movie, a journal to take notes in at church, and some candy.
Millie loves to give hugs and kisses.
Since it had just rained, Elaina found herself caked with mud after just a few short minutes of playing outside. We gave them all baths and got ready for pizza.
Stephen's birthday "party".
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