Since July we had been planning to have a surprise party for Mom the day after we came out of the Boundary Waters, her birthday is August 25, just three days before mine.  But we were going to bring her presents and just do it up right in the Chinese restaurant there in Cloquet.

In lieu of a cake, we had all picked out chocolates from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in Duluth, we thought those would be tastier, but we still needed a candle, so we stopped by Wal-Mart (I know, I know, Cloquet didn’t have anything else). I found a big, round candle to set in the middle of the chocolates, which I planned to arrange tastefully around the candle so Mom could blow it out, then have something to set on her desk at work as a reminder of the event.

Unbeknownst to me, everyone was also planning to have one for ME at the same time.  Sneaky hosers.

So we arrived at the restaurant early and hid Mom’s presents, which I had wrapped in the car on the way to the restaurant.  I hid the chocolates, candle and the plate they would be displayed on and we all sat at the table waiting for Momsy to come in.

We ate the meal like normal and then, when she left we grabbed her presents and I arranged the chocolates and lit the candle with this blowtorch-like thing we had gotten from the server.

Mom came back in and looked very surprised and cute indeed.  Then everyone turned to me and said surprise to ME too!  YAY!

Mom looks cute here, mostly because she got the joke pulled on her and she pulled one on me at the same time.  She’s always cute like that.

My presents were wrapped beautifully but looked a little worse for wear because they had been squashed in the back of the van for over a week.  This one in particular had taken one for the team…both its handles fell off shortly after this picture was taken.

Mom and I blew out the candle on our “chocolate” cake.  Please observe the trendy “birthday candle”.

I can’t figure out what’s going on in this picture and neither can Brother.  Everyone is laughing very hard except me, Pops and Stephen…and I kind of look wilted.  So it seems like someone must have pulled some kind of joke on me, or I missed the joke….or something.  (Does anyone remember?)

Mom opened her presents and looked as pleased with each one as she does every year.

I opened mine with great fervor as well.  I got lots of books (two about Pandas, one about holiday traditions – yay! – and two Beverly Lewis ones).

One of Mom’s presents was a canoe frame for one of our Boundary Waters pictures, and a little “Family” piece to sit beside it.  It’s for her new office….since her old nick-knacks got washed away in that nasty flood.

It was a fun surprise and nice to be able to celebrate Mom’s and my birthdays with family.

Yesterday was my real birthday, and Joey wouldn’t tell me where we were going for dinner.  At lunch I went to Sambuca, which is a restaurant that I really like around here but poor Joey has never been, and I had my favorite grilled salmon with Gorgonzola sauce.

Yum.

Then, in Hebrew class, I found out that he had made reservations for us to have dinner at Sambuca for my birthday dinner!

Oops.

We wound up going to La Duni instead.  We smuggled my camera in and tried to take covert pictures at the table without using the flash, so they’re kind of dark.

I always like La Duni’s chips and salsa.  We asked our server (WHO WAS SO STINKIN’ CUTE!  I absolutely loved her) not to bring any more once we polished this bowl off because we wanted to save room for our entrees.

Joey’s mean and took this picture of me eating.

So I got two pictures of him chewing, one of which involved the flash…and then everyone looked at me.  I was embarrassed.  I’ll let you figure out which one I used the flash on accidentally.

We ordered limonada berries to drink and it was delicious.  I had to water mine down because it was a touch too sweet for me.

We forgot to take pictures of our entrees and dessert, but rest assured that both were delicious. We ate and talked  and laughed and ate some more for about an hour and a half.  Then we realized that we were going to be late to buy my present!  We only have one car, so he hadn’t been able to get to the store.  I didn’t mind, though, and we made it just in time.

Joey took me into Helzberg where he showed me a very lovely, dainty white gold and diamond cross.  He had picked out the exact same one my eye was first drawn to (he has good taste).  When we were first married and on our way to China, he bought me a silver cross to remind me that God is always with me, even when I’m afraid (I’m scared on airplanes and it’s a long flight to China) but..he sort of vacuumed up the chain on that cross a couple months ago.  He had planned to replace it and was waiting for me to forget about the other one.

Sneak.

He made me wait until we got home to open the bag.

WHAT COULD IT BE?!

Ooh, a sparkly box.

It’s a new and beautiful cross!

I really like the chain, it’s one of my favorite parts.  It’s really delicate.

Up close it looks like this.

Thanks Joey!  I love you!

My birthday words of wisdom this year?  (A tradition that I grew up with and one that Joey and I are continuing.)

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:  If one falls down, his friend can help him up.  But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!  … Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.    -Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

This year Joey and I have learned a lot about community, especially in the body of Christ.  It may seem easier to do life by yourself, but it’s so much better to do it with others surrounding you to encourage, sharpen and point out things you would otherwise miss.

I’m so thankful for my friends who hold me accountable: Laura S, Laura W, Becca and Rachael.  They’ve taught me a lot about myself and God just through being together for the last year.  THANKS GIRLS!