Surprise parties can be iffy; some people love being surprised and some people hate it. Luckily, the surprise 60th birthday party for my mom’s best friend, Christine (who happens to be a “Shapleigh Girl” mom… Sara and Amy’s mom, to be exact), went off without a hitch and was very well received by her. In fact, I don’t think she could have been happier OR more surprised… a win-win (side note- when I first typed “win”, I accidentally typed “wine”. Does that mean I have a problem?) situation if you ask me!

I headed up to Christine’s house in East Wakefield, NH Saturday after my kickboxing class. Sara took Christine to go baby shopping for Zeke, so Amy, my sister and Gordie headed up early on Saturday to get the house “party ready” while Sara and Christine were shopping. By the time I showed up, the house was looking great!

The weather was absolutely perfect for a fall party. Not too hot, but warm enough for people to enjoy the weather out on the deck. People started arriving around 3:30, in anticipation of Christine and Sara’s 4pm arrival. Once we got the heads up saying they were on their way, we headed outside for the big reveal of the surprise!

Not long after, she arrived!!

And boy was she surprised! I think everyone started crying when she arrived because her emotions were contagious! Both Christine and my mom are HUGE gushers… aka, people who gush over, well, anything, so when she realized what was going on she was crying and screaming and laughing and just completely shocked. I don’t think I’ve seen a more successful surprise!

Gosh just looking at those photos makes me get all choked up again!

I’ll let the photo’s do the rest of the talking. I am so happy to have been a part of such a special day for an incredible lady. Christine is like a second mom to my sister and me so it was awesome getting a chance to shower her with love and celebrations!

Happy Birthday, Chris!!! Now you don’t have to plan your own party 😉

Questions for you: Do you like surprise parties? Have you ever thrown one or had one thrown for you? I haven’t, but I think I would love it.