The Big 30!

The day after we came home from our trip to Kansas, it was Ben's birthday. But not just any birthday, it was his big 30th birthday! I wanted to do something so fun and so special for him. I started thinking about it a long time ago and was trying to decide what would be the perfect thing to do. One day talking to my mother in law about it, she gave me the idea to do a video game night for the boys. I immediately fell in love with the idea. Ben loves to play games, and I always give him a hard time about it, so for his birthday I would give him a whole night of playing video games. :) I also wanted to throw a surprise party for him with all our family and friends, so I decided the video night would be the perfect decoy. So I went to work planning it all. I sent out invites on Facebook, thinking I could create a private group and keep it a secret from Ben. Well after I sent them all out, it started showing up on everyone's wall. "Teea is going to 'Surprise Party for Ben!'" I about died. I thought I ruined everything. I hurried and deleted the groups and prayed that Ben didn't see anything. Luckily he doesn't get on FB very often. And Ben is not good at keeping secrets so if he did see it, I would know because he would either give it away or just tell me he saw it. There's no way he could just pretend he didn't see it. So that night I analyzed him very closely and he didn't act weird or say anything, so I was pretty sure we were safe. :) He kept asking me what we were going to do for his birthday. I know he was expecting something big and he knows I love surprises so he probably figured I would plan a big surprise. I kept asking him what he wanted to do, but he just kept saying, I don't know, you plan something fun. So I did. But he had no idea what exactly I was up to. 

On his birthday I surprised him with donuts from Lehi Bakery, he loves their maple bars. I just wanted it to be a special day for him. Later we dropped Payson off at my parents house and just Ben and I went to lunch and a movie. We went to see The Avengers and then went to The Pie for pizza, which is one of Ben's favorite places to eat. If you know Ben, you know he loves pizza. (I blame the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.) Then I surprised him with a massage. So I dropped him off then ran to Costco to get treats for the guys night. We decided to have it at his parents house. We set up a bunch of different game systems and a couple of tv's, and connected them so they could all play together. I obviously have no idea how to do any of this and could not have pulled it off without the help from Ben's family. Jan, Scott, Andy, Mike, and Austin really made it happen that night and I am so grateful for all their help! We needed to use our tv as one of the tv's, so while we were on our trip to Kansas, Ben's family came in and took our tv to their house. When we got home Ben just about freaked when our tv was missing, but I just told him not to worry about it. He obviously knew something was up, but had no idea what. I could tell he was trying to think what I could possibly be doing with our tv. So while Ben was getting a massage, everyone came over to the house. We invited all the guys from our families and some of Ben's close friends. I went to pick up Ben and when we got home I told him Payson was inside his parents house, so we went in to get him and talk to them. Ben was surprised when he walked in, not because he wasn't expecting anything but because he didn't know what was going on with just the guys here. Once he saw the games he was so excited. Jan ordered some pizza (our second time eating it that day!) and the guys just played and ate and hung out. I think everyone had a lot of fun. I was thrilled with how well it turned out. Afterwards Ben told me he really liked it and it was a lot of fun. He was not expecting that at all (probably expecting a surprise party with our family and friends!). So his actual birthday turned out to be a great day. 

Hanging out together on his birthday

 The game night for the guys

Then I had planned the big surprise party for our family and friends for that weekend. I was so excited because he didn't expect it at all. He thought all his birthday surprises were over. I asked his dad to distract him that afternoon so I could get everything set up so they went and saw the Hunger Games (I even pretended to be a little annoyed that he wasn't going to help me get stuff done around the house. :) I really wanted it to be a surprise!) We used the church by our house and we set up tables on one side and games for the kids on the other side. I got some balloons and decorated a little and bought way too much food. I just wanted it to be fun and special for him. He deserves only the best. :) And of course, we ordered pizza. I think we ended up getting 18 pizzas from Little Caesars. (And by the end of the weekend we were all sick of pizza, even Ben!). To get Ben to the church, on the way home from the movie Scott told Ben they had to stop at the church and lock it up. Ben's grandpa used to have this job and would have to go over there all the time. Ben said he didn't think anything of it. When he walked in we all yelled surprise and scared him so bad! He started walking in, then saw all of us, then stopped and was ready to walk out before he realized what was going on. He said he thought he walked into a ward activity or something. It was perfect. We had a great turn out and just had a fun night hanging out with everyone. I wanted to get Ben a bike for his birthday since we were moving so close to the school, he could ride it there. So my family and his family all went in and we got him a bike. He wasn't thrilled about it, and kept making jokes that we were telling him he's fat, but I think eventually he liked it. He said it reminded him of his mission. Again, I could not have pulled this night off without the help from Ben's parents and my family. Everyone helped so much, from setting things up, going and getting the pizza, getting the balloons, watching Payson, etc. I couldn't have done any of it without our great families! And I was so thrilled with how everything turned out. It was all just what I wanted! And I think Ben really liked it as well. At least that what he told me. :) 

I am so lucky to have this awesome man in my life! I love him so much and just wanted him to know how special he is and how much he means to me and to so many people. It was a wonderful birthday weekend and a perfect 30th birthday!