Surprise!

They got me! They got us!

It was an impressive surprise, that being said let's start at the beginning!

I had started investigating this 'surprise' party early in the week. I love surprises, but I loving trying to figure them out even more. Usually I can sniff out the details, but this time no one was offering any information. I had talked to Richard briefly about it, but he wanted no part in my investigation.

We were scheduled to have dinner at home on Friday night, Liz had family over from BC. I got home from work around 5. I nipped up for the shower, put on make-up and got dressed up. I was SURE there was something going on. Richard even went and got a hair cut, just to be safe.

The house was decorated for Christmas, but no tell tale signs of a party. Hmmm...

We had a nice visit with Louise and Dan, but they left before dinner was served. A little odd,but nothing out of the ordinary. Richard's Mom went about making dinner. I went upstairs changed into my jammies and played with wedding stuff. Richard went down to the guitar room to play.

I joined him later...disappointed about my wrong guess. I remember saying to Richard 'Nothing's happen tonight'. He hugged me and said 'I guess not'.

After about an hour we were called for dinner....just the four of us. Hmmm...

We ate and chatted about our day.

Then the door bell rang. Hmmm...

No one got up to answer the door. Hmmm...

Richard finally went to get the door and his Mom suggested I go with him. Hmmm....

I heard MY Mum's laugh. WHAT?!

Standing at the door, in the snow was Lauren, Dave, Cassy and Mum. They were dressed up and shouted 'surprise'.

Yay! We thought our closest friends were coming to spend the night with us. We were both thrilled.

Then the door bell rang again. Hmmm...

Richard and I RAN to the door, now fully aware of the surprise and there stood Colin and Katie. We hugged them and welcomed them in.

We were just settling in to drinks and conversation when Richard was asked to help with something and the last piece of the puzzle fell into place as the food, food and more food arrived. It wasn't an intimate party of 6... it was MUCH more.

The doorbell continued to ring and EVERY time I jumped with excitement, because every time I opened the door it was someone new and everyone was there to support Richard and I.

We had an amazing turn out, despite the crummy weather. We had wine and jagerbombs, cake and appetizers. It was perfect.

When everyone was settled in we were herded into the dining room... Liz and Mum had presents for us. Liz presented Richard with his Grandpa's ring and Mum presented me with Nana's engagement ring. It was a BIG tear fest and made the moment even more special. I also got a large bouquet of tulips, my favorite flower.

We spent the rest of the night engulfed in conversation with everyone who matters most to us. We can't thank everyone enough for being there for us.

THANK-YOU... to everyone that planned, attended and shared in our engagment party.

Cheers to MORE parties and special moments.