Chou's surprise party

On Saturday my mom and I threw a surprise 30th birthday party for Chou (details to come). I'm happy to say that he was 100% surprised, thanks to all of our careful planning and a healthy dose of his trust! 

A Surprised Chou

We spent the past number of months roaming pinterest, scouring blogs for ideas, crafting, fabric shopping, menu planning, and getting assistance from many of Chou's close friends. (Thank you!!) We were reminded of how much we rely on Chou for all things food-related and truly missed his expertise in planning the menu and calculating exactly how much food would be needed. 

Last week was full of food shopping followed by lots and lots of cooking. By 5pm Friday, the food was all prepped and I was headed home to spend the evening with Chou. Chou grabbed sandwiches from our favorite shop and a movie from Redbox and we settled in for a cozy family night. While we relaxed at home, my mom, sister, and brother-in-law were finishing up details when a small twister tore through the county, leaving them without power. They scrambled to relocate the food (thanks, Kath and Joey!) and finished their tasks by candlelight. Meanwhile, our lights never even flickered!

Chou thoroughly enjoyed the day with so many of his friends. Thanks to everyone who came out to help him celebrate this milestone! It meant so much to us!

And just in case anyone is keeping track, yes, we had golf ball sized hail on our wedding day (8/2/2008), E's baby shower was postponed for snow in October (10/29/2011), and Chou had a tornado for his 30th birthday party (although the weather on Saturday ended up being picture perfect). At least we dodged the hurricane that all my friends were predicting would blow through when E was born in December ;)