Sunday, June 1, 2008

Stone Family Surprise

Hey y'all!
This past Friday, I hosted a surprise party for my family. The special occasion? you may ask.
  • Anna turned 19 in April and graduated in May.
  • Olivia will be turning 13 in July.
  • My parents will be celebrating their birthdays in July.
  • And mom and dad are going to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary in July.
Why were all these occasions rolled into one big event?

'Cause I wanted an excuse to throw a surprise party, of course :D. It was also an attempt to cheer up my family after our hard year.

Friday is the day Ms. Kricket comes over to give Anna fiddle lessons, so she was able to stay and help with so many details. She had also agreed to play the fiddle for the dance later that night. Here we see two of her children, Audrey and Johnny.

Matt came over Friday afternoon and practiced with Ms. Kricket. He also put the tiki torches up that we used to form our "dance floor". Thanks, Matt!

Getting ready for the party

Here they are practicing together for the first time. They did a wonderful job.

The first bunch to arrive was the Amundsen family. It was thought that everything was done, so we just took our time and fed the goats oranges...

Jean Marie, "my right arm" :D, preparing to exit the house to retrieve something for me! Thank you, Jean Marie for being so willing to do... stuff! :D And Josh looks stuck behind the door. LOL!

Waiting for my family to arrive... They had to leave the house around noon so that the party preparations could begin.

Peter, one of the faithful photographers...

"EMILY STOP!" called Peter to me amidst my frazzled nerves and frantic "powerwalks". "I can't stop Peter!" But he succeeded in getting me to stop and smile for 5 seconds! :D

Adam and Matt

Anticipation... EXCITEMENT! Not meditation (says dad! :D)

Here they.... go? Wait, where are they going?

Daddy was very courteous to let mom drive in first.

SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANNIVERSARY...

AND GRADUATION!

Next, in came Dad.

greetings

the party-goers

Da Boyz...

Find Mr. Fambrough's glasses :D

Most of the young ladies. Front row L-R: Gabbi, Melody, Olivia, back row L-R: Kathleen, Elise, Mariah, and Hannah... what precious gifts!

Gailanne and I pause for a pic... :D

Mattie Amundsen! What a peach!

Audrey Morose! Anna teaches her piano.

The lovely salads.

The "goods" (desserts!) LOL!

Anna really likes this pic, so... here ya go! LOL

Gracia Campana, Clair Orenczak, and Emma Bohannan

Chatting soon after the arrival

Me loverly mum!

Preparing to bless the meal!

Abigail's "tired" pose!

Anna and Paulina chatting

Providence Orenczak and yours truly

It was quite warm... 94 degrees I believe, so... everyone made good use of the pool!

On the porch getting dinner... "Hi Jeffrey! Nice smile."

Mrs. Krause and Mrs. Fambrough! What wonderful helpers they were!

Ms. Kricket chatting with my aunt Treva and Uncle Matt

The Three Musketeers! (Johnny Morose, Frankie Campana, and James Bohannan)

Hearty conversation... :D

Bliss!
Little girls feeding oranges to the goats...

Retrieving the oranges for the little girls to feed the goats...
Christian Fellowship

Abigail, Anna, and Lauren

Look at 'em eyes!

Paulina, Peter and Abigal

And whilst Jean Marie has the camera...




Kim and the photographer (Jean)... sisters

Paulina and Jean... the photographer again!

And again... only with me this time... :D

Gabbi Campana

Hannah Bohannan

The beginnings of the Virginia Reeling... note it was said "beginnings"... :D

How Sweet. L-R: Mattie, Emma and Gracia

1 2 3 4... 1 2 3 4...

The "band"

A side view... L-R: Ms. Kricket, Anna, Roger, and Matt

Some of the guys L-R: Joshua, Adam, and Joseph

The band playing "Rakes of Kildare"

Don't ya just get tired by watching them? Right arm, left arm...

The onlookers/dancers. L-R: One half of Mr. Hope :D, Mrs. Hope, Lauren, My grandma (Mrs. Wilbanks), Mrs. Amundsen, Jeffery, and Gailanne


Thank y'all SO much for making this a memorable occasion for my family! I couldn't have done it without ya! :D
~Emily

7 comments:

The Campana Family said...

Hi Emily,
We had Lots Of Fun! ( at the surprise party)
Can't Wait To see Ya'll Again!
The Campanas

Anonymous said...

Hey Emily,
Thanks for posting these pics. I am going to encrypt them on my ipod. I had a time. Thanks for putting in all the hours.
>JosephH

Anonymous said...

Hello Stone Family,
It was so nice getting to spend time with all of you and meeting all of the families. Thank you for thinking of us. Great pictures!!!

Blessings,
The Hope's

Katie said...

Oh what fun! I'm sad I couldn't be there :( God bless you all! Love and miss!

Lizzy said...

OMG! you must have had a time pulling off a surprise party for everyone in your family but you Emily!!!!!! =P
Seems like you had some sweet friends to help you though!
Parties are always lots of fun!
Miss ya sweet girl!

Anonymous said...

WOW! This looks like great fun!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

HAPPY GRADUATION

AND HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!!!!

The Pethtels in Tennessee

The Southern Peach-Girls said...

What! We weren't invited!!! I'm just teasing. Not like I would be able to drive in this heat with no AC. And here I am trying to teach my girls perseverence and being tougher. Telling them the days of the pioneers who had to travel in open wagons, on dusty roads, with lots of bugs, and heat or cold and....well anyways :-) It looks like a great time! We will be needing a big birthday bash for July with three b-days already with another on the way. I'll take some notes :-) Something tells me it will be a while before I do any dancing though! It is so great to "see" your family and all that you do. My girls love checking up on you all!

Kerri

 

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