the preacher and me: Surprises & Friendship

This past weekend was one of the best weekends!

It was my Mom's 60th birthday party! All of her friends are turning 60 this year and they've been celebrating and having fun enjoying each other's birthdays. This past weekend, it was time for my Mom and her friend, Emily to have their party.

Jon and I didn't get to come home for her actual birthday and I was really sad about not being there. Earlier this month I decided that we would come in later in the month so I could go to her birthday party with all of the girls.

So that's what we did.

We surprised my Mom on Friday night and it was awesome! I got my Dad and sister to help me surprise her. They both told my Mom that they wanted to go out to eat on Friday night. She didn't think anything of it. My sister went down to my parent's house after work and Jon and I walked in the door a few minutes behind her. I walked in the living room with a balloon yelling surprise and she couldn't believe that we were there. It was the best!

Once she got over the shock, we went out to eat at Longhorn Steakhouse. It was delish!

Here's Mom and Dad!

P.S. They give you free ice cream at Longhorn if it's your birthday! Their food is also glorious!

Here's me and Jon....

It was such a fun night!

The next day we got up and headed down to Georgia for the party while Jon and my Dad got to spend some good quality time together. The party was at Pam's house, one of my Mom's sweet friends. Her house was so pretty. She had everything set up beautifully for the party and the entire time I was there, I was dreaming of having a kitchen just like her's one day. It was so pretty!

Here are some pictures from the party....

Yummy sandwiches, chips, pasta salad, fruit, cupcakes and all of the fixings. Pam knows how to throw a party!

Hi, Cindy! :)

Doesn't everything just look so pretty?

Cindy was so sweet and brought everyone these little Seeds of Happiness. They were cute little clay balls with smiley faces to brighten your day. So sweet and cute!

Now....let's take a look at the cupcakes.

I would love to have another one of those! Yum!

Here's some of the gang....the two birthday girls and sweet cousin, Carol!

The other side of the table...

Another view....

The birthday girls got to open lots of sweet gifts, too!

Some were hilarious...

This group of ladies are a hoot to be around. I really didn't know what to expect going to the party, but I'm so glad I got to go. I'd never gotten the chance to hang out with all of them that I can remember (probably when I was a baby, but I surely don't remember that). I think we spent a good four or five hours just fellowshipping with one another.....there were a lot of laughs!

It was also fun to hang out with my sister, Hailey, and my cousin Jennifer. We were part of the " kids" there. Haha!

It was so sweet to see the love that these ladies have for one another. The memories and fun times that they have shared throughout their years are so special to them and so fun to hear about. I got to hear stories about my Mom and I also got to tell stories on her to her friends. It was so much fun to share in the love with these precious women. It's amazing to see that after all of these years from growing up in high school and church together that they still remain close. Friendship is such a beautiful thing.

I even got to take some goodies home from the party....