Greg turned 40! One day I was thinking what I could do for his birthday. I almost called his secretary, and set-up a lunch for his department. When I was thinking about what I could make for their lunch funeral potatoes popped into my head, and I thought forget about his staff. We are having a funeral luncheon for him.
The kids and I made cows to cover our yard with, and we made a sign that said, "Have you HERD? Greg is 40!"
I have NEVER really surprised Greg, unless of course you consider things that have come out of my mouth that shock him, but that really doesn't count. He always knows his presents at Christmas. He is just really hard to surprise. The kids and I were so excited to have a surprise party for him. When I told Gaby and Mori my idea, I could tell by Gaby's response that she it was a fabulous idea.
I met a lady at Shopko mid January. Christmas had gone 90% off so I was stocking up on wrapping paper, gift bags, teacher gifts... my cart was full. The cashier was adorable. She didn't care, some act like you are robbing the store when it's 90% off, but not her. We chatted a bit, and she said "Are you Mormon?" I said "Yes". She said, "I could tell, Mormons are the nicest people." It turns out her son is serving a mission in the Philippines. She is not a member. He had good Mormon friends in high school and his life's path was altered. Anyway, I talked to the missionaries about her and they said they knew her and she needed a friend. I ran into Shopko last week, I saw Maria, she called me by name (that's an awesome cashier), I visited with her a bit and invited her to Greg's party. She said, "That's weird I don't even know him." I told her that's okay that's what would make it funny. She consented. I texted the missionaries and let them know she was coming and invited them. It really worked out well, because then I told Greg that the missionaries and Maria were coming and he'd need to be home by 5, and we'd have to celebrate his birthday on the weekend. One slight problem is that Greg saw the missionaries on Saturday and said "Hey I hear you're coming to our house for dinner on Wednesday!" When he told me he'd talked to them I worried they'd blown my cover, but they didn't. So things were coming along fine.
Jessica came over Wednesday morning. (She had bore her testimony on Sunday and I could tell she was struggling. I went into Relief Society and told her to come over and help me cook on Wednesday for the funeral luncheon and we could have therapy while we cooked. We typically are walking partners, while the weather is gorgeous now, the snow is not melting fast enough.) She helped me a ton, and we solved most of the worlds problems while we went about our work. We hung black crepe paper, and blew up black balloons, frosted cupcakes, and when Greg came home for lunch we acted nonchalant like we had been chilling out all morning. He said, "Who died?" I think that meant he liked all of the black decor. I made sure Greg would pick up Mori at 4:30 from piano and then made sure to tell Mori she needed to take her dad to Smith's until 5 for whatever emergency she could conjure up. He knew he needed to be home by 5. The Quick's came and the Young's children before Greg got home. He drove up and Jessica's car was in the same place it had been earlier, and Mori said Greg said, "She's STILL HERE!" He came in and the kids started weeping and moaning it was hilarious! I loved it. Greg looked really confused. Then the Barker's came, and then the Bohlman's, and then the Sisters (but no Maria. They were all adorable. We had a really full house for a few minutes. Brother Barker was adorable, he came hobbling in, holding his back, and said "Geez, I sure wish I was 40 again!!!" The house cleared out a bit and then Barb Bates came, and the Bird's. When Barb came in she was hilarious and really played it up. She had the biggest wad of kleenex ever. She put on a good show. She gave Greg a black bag full of essentials for the modern day 40 year old. It included, reading glasses, a coupon for depends, an AARP application, muscle relief, gas-x, a book on a lanyard that on one side said "Where Did I Park?" and the other side said, "Why Did I Come in Here?", a Jumbo size puzzle book...we got a good chuckle out of that. Sister Bird was so funny, "She came in all hunched over and in an old lady voice said, "Lordy, Lordy looks whose 40!". Brother Bird looked like a mafia member with his black clothing. Then the Meeks came, and Astrid played it up beautifully! She wept and carried on. When Mike came in he said, "I've heard there's been a death!" He missed the memo. Greg was cute, and gracious with everyone. I would love to know what was going through his head. Gaby's outfit was awesome! Astrid picked her up from play practice and brought her home. Gaby had taken her outfit to school with her to change into. I had no idea. All of the kids were happy to dress up with the exception of Benji, he kindly told me "NO"!
We had hot ham and cheese sandwiches (everyone raved about them...I think it's the pound of butter spiked with mustard, Worcestershire sauce, dry onions, poppy seeds that you pour over them that makes them so good), funeral potatoes (Sister Barker made them), pasta salad, baked beans, salad, and cupcakes. It was fun to celebrate Greg. Our family is so blessed by Greg. He is good and kind. Heavenly Father has blessed our life through him abundantly. I tell the kids all of the time how lucky they are that I chose so wisely...I really am an awesome husband and father picker. I don't think I could have out done myself on that ever! Happy Birthday Honey! We hope this is your best year yet! We love you!
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