SURPRISE!!!!

I haven't been able to say anything, but Stephanie and I have been working on Wayne's 50th birthday surprise party. His b-day isn't until July 31st but we had it early, last night, because our son was originally going to be gone on his guard duty. That was postponed but things were too far along to change the date and I was ready to have it behind me!

Yes, my shirt says, "Wayne State University". He initially asked me why I was so dressed up to go out to eat BBQ and asked if I wanted to wear one of his t-shirts. So, I thought this one was appropriate!

We sent out e-mails and made phone calls about the party requesting pictures, stories, memories and b-day wishes. I found out the middle of last week that a friend of ours, Glenn, that used to work with us was coming from Atlanta and the biggest surprise is our friend from Wayne's Marine Corps days at MCAS Yuma in the late 70's early 80's was going to drive from Durham, NC for the party. He was going to come in Friday night and stay at a hotel until the party so Wayne wouldn't get suspicious, but we haven't seen Phil for 19 years and I wasn't willing to give up that time with him. If Wayne figured it out I thought it was worth it to be able to spend time with our dear friend.

This is Bryant looking through the window waiting for Wayne, Phil and I to get there. :) Bryant wrote the cutest letter for Wayne for his memory book. However, it was a labor of love. Ashley wrote it out for him to copy. I called home one day this week to see how he was doing and he starting crying saying, "I can't do this...it's too many words!" But, after a good night's sleep he got right on it the next day and did a GREAT job!

Unfortunately the picture of Wayne walking into the banquet room at Sonny's is blurry but I think you can tell that he is really surprised to see us getting seated in the banquet room with 44 people that he knew.

Wayne was so surprised! He thought something was up with Phil coming in and I had to leave a few times on Saturday to "run some errands" but he never guessed it would be at Sonny's. (Thanks for sending me this pic, Bren)

Wayne has been called batman for a number of years because his name is really "Bruce Wayne". So, Steph came up with the idea of doing a batman theme instead of the typical "Over the Hill" all black b-day.

Another great idea that Steph had was to create a memory book full of the pictures, stories, etc. that we received from people. Steph also asked people to create an ANAGRAM using the letters "W-A-Y-N-E". They were all so creative and FUNNY! Here are Wayne's Mom's pages. She was so sweet to send us an entry for Wayne's Dad & Brother who have passed away.

Here are some of Wayne's gifts, his memory book and the box with the lid was for all of his cards. He LOVES to receive cards. He has never thrown away a card that anyone has given to him. He has drawers and boxes full of them!

Okay, so the story behind this picture is, a group of people from our work decided a couple of years ago that they were going to play dodgeball, before the movie came out. Wayne ordered one of their shirts which had W.R.E.T.A.R.D. on the front. I can't even remember what that stands for but I know the last 3 letters are "adult recreational dodgeball". Anyway, our friend, Brian in N.M. got a copy of this picture and had it blown up to 16 x 20 and sent it for Wayne's b-day. Every few months or so Brian will send an e-mail with the subject: "Has anyone seen my W.R.E.T.A.R.D?"

Wayne became very emotional once he got over the shock of everyone being there to celebrate his birthday. He was so touched that he had to excuse himself to regain his composure. Here he is after he came back in and thanked everyone for taking time to come for his party. He was really very sweet and you can tell by the sweet smile on Stephanie's face that she is so pleased that she was able to touch her Daddy's heart so much.

Most of you know everyone calls me "Mimi". Wayne calls Steph "Mimi Jr" because we are so much alike. Brenda snapped this picture of us and I thought it was so revealing that we were both bent in the same manner over greeting our guests. Thanks, Bren.

Brenda took this picture of Wayne and I. Thanks again, Bren.

I thought this was a cute picture. The servers at Sonny's did a fantastic job and they had just asked Wayne if everything was okay. He turned to everyone, gave them a big smile and thumbs-up.

This was a gift from Terrie who, MANY years ago, was our regular server at a local restaurant. Our family went there quite frequently and Wayne would ALWAYS mess with Terrie and a few of the other servers. We always had a good time but they vowed to get Wayne back and one night they did. He always ordered BLACK coffee after his meal. Terrie decided this was her chance and put Tobasco and Worchestershire sauce in his coffee. His gift was just a little reminder of that night! As you can tell by the look on his face, it brought back some BURNING memories! Way to go, Terrie!

Wayne received many funny and very nice gifts. Our buddy, Phil, got Wayne a replica of a USMC NCO Sword. He absolutely LOVED it!

Okay, those who attended were given a special gift by Wayne. If you know Wayne, you know that he is a constant source of entertainment, usually at his own expense. Well, imagine my surprise when he decided to tell everyone at the party his most embarrassing moment that happened last fall. I won't go into detail but we'll just say that. . . ...it involved:

Wayne in a VERY nice hotel on business

2:00 a.m. having to "use the facilities"

Going through a door other than the bathroom

The door closing behind him

He didn't have his key

OH, did I mention that he was wearing his "birthday suit"?

It was so funny! He is always such a good sport about those things.

Phil and Wayne - Thanks buddy, for making Wayne's celebration so special. You being there was the best gift of all. Let's not let 19 more years go by before we see each other again!

Glenn and Phil ~ Thanks Glenn for making the trip. I know you just got back from vacation and had to get a babysitter but we REALLY appreciated you making the trip for "Dad"!

Shawn and Wayne - Wayne said that he saw Shawn through the window of the banquet room and KNEW he'd been had! Thanks for being such a good friend!

Deefer and Wayne (Terrie in the background) - Deefer is a special family friend and co-worker. You're the greatest!

Wayne and Mick - Friends, drinking buddies, etc. for a long time, even owned a pub together.

Joe, Wayne and Dawn - Joe is Wayne and Rob's FSU game buddy. The 3 of them have had season tickets for 12-13 years! I'm sure Joe has hundreds of stories about Wayne!

Judy and Brenda - Judy allowed us to invade her home on Saturday to finish up Wayne's memory book! Brenda sent me a couple of pictures that I'm using in this post! Thanks, gals! We couldn't have done it without you!

We didn't get pictures of everyone but each person who attended Wayne's party is very special to us and we appreciate all of our wonderful friends and family to everything they contributed to make Wayne's 50th celebration something to remember. Thank you all so much!

Bryant getting kisses from his Mommy and Ashley! Thanks, Jessica, for coming by to get the card box and my camera! The photo album you did for Papa was Great!

Rob & Wayne - Rob had Guard duty right before the party but managed to get there in plenty of time!

Steph and Wayne - This young lady is amazing! She is such a wonderful planner and a heart like none other. She did the lion's share of the work for her Daddy's party and did a fantastic job with the memory book and every other aspect of this celebration!

Ashley and Wayne - Ashley has 4 different jobs so she didn't have a lot of time to help with the party but was a trooper when her sister called needing her to do some last minute errands to bring things together.

Our wonderful family whom I thank God for every day!

Our "other children" ... Brian had to work and was unable to be with us. He, along with several other family members who were unable to attend, called Wayne during his party. Heather was a HUGE help with Wayne's memory book and Steph's sidekick on Saturday pulling everything together. Thanks, kids, for all you did to make this day so special for Dad.

After the party all of the kids came back to the house and we went swimming. It was great family time and enjoyed sharing that time with Phil. We were all exhausted! Phil attended church with us this morning. Steph, Brian, Heather (Rob had Guard) and some of Heather's family went with us as well. We went to Ryan's afterward before Phil had to get on the road home. Here are a couple of pictures from Ryan's.

I am a lot better at "hellos" than I am at "good-byes". It was at Ryan's that I had to say good-bye to Wayne's Mom in May after Rob's graduation. And, like I did after I said good-bye to her, I cried nearly all the way home after hugging Phil good-bye. It is so amazing that with certain friends years and even decades can go by but we somehow pick right back where we left off just like it was yesterday. Those are the kinds of friendships that are truly treasures. Thanks you buddy for making Wayne's 50th something to remember.

Hugs ~ Kim