The Harris Family: Surprise!

Saturday afternoon {after Ryan's "friend" birthday party}, I threw a surprise 30th birthday party for David :)

I really didn't think David had any idea about the party, and when he walked in the door, his face confirmed my suspicions. He was shocked and told me later that he almost turned around and walked back out the door because he didn't know who to talk to first :) Luckily he didn't do that {although it would have been funny}, and his shocked face turned to a huge grin within seconds. He was on cloud nine the rest of the afternoon and night!

Waiting patiently for the guest of honor :)

SURPRISE!

I will admit that I felt slightly overwhelmed in the weeks leading up to our day of partying {not that the parties were that much work on there own, but when you add in the fact that Christmas was just one week away, it was a lot to juggle all at once}, but I am so glad that I decided to have this party for David!! It was awesome and he was SO thrilled, which made all the hard work and party planning worth it!! Not to mention that this was the first birthday party that has ever been thrown for just him {he shares a birthday with his older-by-one-year brother}, as well as the first and only surprise party he has ever had :) Again, SO glad I had it!!

A fun little treat for the birthday boy from Laura and Daniel ...
a 30 sucks lollipop bouquet :)

We got home from Ryan's party about 11:45 AM, and hung out until about 1:45 PM. Ryan opened presents and had lunch, and then David took a little nap {at which point I started pacing because there was so much to do before 2:45 when everyone started arriving, but I couldn't do any of it with him still home} until his good friend Chris picked him up to go to lunch. Once David was gone, things were crazy as I scrambled to get everything ready ... in one hour! Luckily, I had LOTS of help standing by -- David's sister came down from Charlotte and got here about 5 minutes after he left, and my sister and mom were right behind her {and my dad and brother were already here since we currently live with them}, AND all came bearing the items that I had 'assigned' them to bring/pick-up earlier in the week when I realized there was NO way I could do everything by myself in the amount of time I had to get ready.

Chris did a fantastic job getting David out of the house
and back again ... without ruining the surprise!!

I bought tons of 30th birthday decorations at Party City, and had Rachel bring pictures of David over the last 30 years to hang up. I decided to go with a Mexican-ish theme for the food {I wanted it to be something David would like, even though it turned out he wasn't hungry since he ate his heart out at lunch}, which was delicious! We had:

Chicken nachos with shredded lettuce, sour cream, guacamole and salsa on the side
Tennessee Caviar
Guacamole-Goat Cheese Toast
7 Layer Taco Dip
a spicy Velveeta cheese dip
a veggie tray
Sausage and cheese stuffed filo dough cups
a Rosalyn Carter cheese ring with crackers
Sangria, Bud Light, Coke, Mountain Dew, and Root Beer to drink, and
a cookie cake from the Great American Cookie Company

Ryan was there too! He watched Cars upstairs for a lot of the
party, but came down to sing "Happy Birthday" and have
blue icing :)

There ended up being 24 adults {and 4 kids} at the party, which was a perfect number, and included 3 of David's best friends from college, a great friend from the Army {Ft. Benning and Ft. Bragg days} and his equally great wife, our wonderful ex-neighbors, a good friend that worked with David here, and our awesome families.

A big thanks to everyone who celebrated with us and made David's 30th birthday so special, AND to everyone who helped me pull it off!!

And for a few of us, the party continued into the night. We sure had fun catching up with the Cleeks {made me miss Ft. Bragg just a little}, playing Sequence, and braving the chilly night air for a few more games of corn hole!