Surprise!

Friday night we celebrated Mom's 50th birthday with an old-fashioned surprise party. After many plans failed to get her to the church, Shaun finally just had to call and kindly suggest she come up to the church. So, she knew something was up, but I don't think she realized the scope of the event. We had family, friends from work, friends from church, and friends from grade school through high school. I think we had around 65 guests, which seemed like the perfect amount.

Shaun and I have been busy for weeks planning the decorations and food, and I think things turned out quite nicely. Here are a few pictures from the evening.

Wedding Bells Are Ringing

Last Saturday, we celebrated Grandma Norma and Grandpa Joe's 55th wedding anniversary with an open house reception at the new blue barn in Atkinson (St. Anthony's new parish hall). After announcing the event in the local paper, around 200 people came to celebrate. It was a delightful day!

Sorry for the Delay

Last weekend we were in Champaign for Fat Fest, an annual tradition that involves eating a disgusting amount of food at ten different restaurants all in one afternoon. We had a delightful time, as usual, and I'm happy to report that Dunkin Donuts finally made it on the list of stops. I don't think anyone was disappointed. In addition to donuts, other restaurants stops included pizza, Korean, Chinese, frozen yogurt, hot dogs, and bar food. Here are a few picture highlights from the day. In other news, my new job is not my favorite. Here's hoping this coming week is better than the last two have been.