SURPRISE!

Wow, what a weekend it has been? A couple weeks ago my family and I decided to have a surprise birthday party for my Mom. Her birthday is on Thanksgiving this year...and she going to be 70!!! Yes, I know it sounds crazy, but she IS going to be 70 years old. Believe me, she doesn't act 70. What 70 yr. old has a party like the one you'll see coming?


Anyway, she had mentioned to us on more than one occasion that she didn't want a party..."they're just too much work", she said. Well, a lot of children take into consideration their parent's wishes. Not us! We knew she would enjoy a party and got it put together in a couple weeks. The problem was trying to keep it a surprise. She is VERY nosy...and asks lots of questions...ALL of the time. I, for one, am a terrible liar and knew that I would be the one to blow it. I steered clear of her a little, but that's impossible when you talk on the phone almost every day. She watched the boys while we went to St. Louis for the day and hung out at our house where we had to hide some things...make sure she wouldn't get on the computer and see pictures we had saved, etc. etc.


Here was the plan: My sister Elaine called to tell Mom that she was coming home for the weekend so that her husband could hunt...so it was planned that we would have our Thanksgiving celebration Saturday night at her house, yes her house. She fixed turkey, noodles, dressing, you name it...she fixed it. If you're ever having a surprise party this is the way to go! (Then it's not that much work) Honestly, this is the way it works. Mom fixes the main meal and we all bring the extras...so if we were to have done it differently and not let her do it all she would have known something was up. So, we let her cook. Then, we had extra friends and family meet over at my brother's house just next door at 6 and all come over together to surprise her.




A little after 6 pm, all of my immediate family was hanging out as Mom was getting everything finalized...the food was pretty much all lined up and ready to eat when a knock came at the garage door. Brent answered it...it was someone selling Christmas cookies. So, he hollered at Mom and told her what the situation was....and she knew who it was (so she thought). It was Nathan, a young relative, who often comes by selling things. So, back through the utility room she goes and opens the door to find....a garage full of people shouting "Surprise!!" and singing Happy Birthday to her. You talk about surprised! She was absolutely clueless! She couldn't get over how full the garage was of people and loved that they all had came to help her celebrate.




After everyone was settled in...we had another surprise. This time it was relatives of my Mom's from Chicago that had made the trip home just for her. Phil and Lucy...they are a hoot! When it came to thinking of ideas for entertainment...they popped into our heads. Here they are...keep in mind that Mom has no clue who is in the ape costume...and that it is VERY, VERY, hot in that costume...he takes a breather toward the end.


I broke this up into 2 videos because I couldn't get it to work otherwise. Don't forget to watch both.

Later, Larry and my niece, Kiley, took the stage...and were they ever a hit! They both did an awesome job! (This is also split up...into 4 different videos)

Shoot! I cannot get the rest of the video to upload...I guess it will come at a later time. At least this gave you a peek into the PARTY that was had at the Kocher's on Saturday night. Check back for more...and please, please feel free to leave a comment. I am dying to hear your thoughts.

I'm So Excited!

I'M SO EXCITED I COULD EXPLODE!!!!! These were the words coming out of Gavin's mouth after school yesterday. He knew that he was going to get to go hunting for the 1st time with Grandpa Dorn.

Here they are getting ready to go! So far I haven't heard of any success...I'll be sure to post if I do. Besides, the success has already been accomplished. The smile on Gavin's face says it all!

Santa Stopped by Already!

Yesterday morning we had a new bed for Pepper and a scratching post sitting on our porch with a bow on it. Gavin and Maddox were very excited for Pepper. Santa must have known that Pepper was going to need a place to keep warm in the garage for the winter. Gavin used an old towel of ours to cover him up...he will be such a good "big" cousin.

The boys brought Pepper inside to watch them make birthday cards for Jeremy.

Thanks Santa for making their day! (and Pepper's too)

Happy Birthday Uncle Jeremy!

The boys wanted to wish their Uncle Jeremy a Happy 32nd Birthday today!

Kelly and Jeremy with Gavin when we brought him home from the hospital.
Gavin enjoying Jeremy's Harley

4-wheelin buds!

I couldn't find any pictures of Jeremy with Maddox. Strange! However, Maddox thought that Jeremy would like this picture of him ramping up his jungle gym with his Jeep.

We hope you have a Happy Birthday Jeremiah! By the way, Maddox picked out the song.

No earplugs!

I am reporting from St. Louis this morning...Larry drug me...I mean we were lucky enough to get tickets to a Metallica concert last night. It was fun! Larry was so excited...it was an awesome show all in all. ( My favorite was the light show! I really haven't seen anything like that before.) I just wish I knew the songs word for word like everyone else. I should for as many times as I've heard them, but the place was packed and there was a lot of energy in that arena!

Note: Larry bought ear plugs for me...I used them for the opening bands Down and The Sword

I didn't use them for Metallica though! Larry was proud of me...

These are all the photos I have for now...I took a few with my cell phone, but they're not good at all. I wanted to take my camera so badly, but Larry told me they'd confiscate it. He should've stuffed it in his pants. No one would have noticed!

We may have a few pics coming later. Off to shop!!

All camo-ed out!

Today Larry and Debbie took the boys to get all geared up and ready for next weekend's hunting season! They are very excited. They were nice enough to send this photo that they took today since I didn't get to see their camo. Looks like they're all set and ready to go!

Gavin will be going hunting with Grandpa this year for his first hunting experience. I think he'll be a good hunter...Maddox will be staying home with us for another year or two...I think he'd scare all the deer away yet this year.

What a crew!

Last Saturday Mom and Cindy drove to Louisville to get some meat for the entire family. Our house was the first drop-off. The boys got right in and helped count out the packages. I'm sure they were a big help. All I know is that we had lots of laughs and in the end they were hired! They rode along to deliver the rest of the meat. I heard they were such good helpers. They even locked the keys in the truck! What would Grandma and Cindy have done without them?

Thanks for taking the boys for a couple hours!