40th Anniversary Surprise...

I can't wait to share this EPIC party with y'all mainly because we hosted this event before I started to blog. So this is some never before seen footage, y'all. 

And the two stars happen to be the best parents around. Waaaaaayyy back in 2009 they were approaching a milestone anniversary and my brothers and our significant others really wanted to commemorate the occasion. I mean, mainly me, but they are all good sports and played along and paid the bills. ;) We have the most adorable outdoor theater in Bryan that made the best venue and created a theme for us that was easy to follow. 

We sent out tickets as invitations (lots of options here), catered in "movie theater food", served drinks and made a 20 minute movie about their love story. We invited friends and family, surprise guests flew in, and my uncle even drove my MaMaw from Baton Rouge. Keeping the secret was the easy part... getting them there was a different story.

We told them that we wanted to take them to dinner to celebrate which was pretty normal. The event wasn't formal, but it also wasn't super casual and we kept dropping hints that maybe my dad should change clothes. He couldn't understand why and we didn't want to press the issue and give anything away. We fixed Mom's hair and make-up and drove to the restaurant. 

And wouldn't you know... Ryan forgot to make the reservation. (The restaurant was in on the surprise... because I think ahead). So, we staged a small little annoyed wife/apologetic husband scene and decided to walk around downtown while we waited for our seats. I started texting people to get into place and we walked up to the theater and pointed at the marquee as everyone yelled "SURPRISE!!!"

I mean, how cute is my mom's big smile??

Men.

;)

Our dear friends made this awesome cake, we had custom popcorn holders (no pics, sorry), hot dogs, nachos, candy and drinks. 

The best part was watching everyone shower them with love.

I mean - can you even with Radley and Ryan?

Owen is now taller than me.

Lifelong neighbors...

tennis friends...

besties...

so many people took time to come celebrate!

The Guercio kids said a few words and toasted the bride and groom...

and then we all enjoyed a movie highlighting their courtship, wedding, early years, middle years and now... we had the best time putting it all together!

The Guercio crew showed up strong...

this was a recreation of another picture...

MaMaw was of course front and center...

and a little throwback to just us 5. 

And of course the Guley Girls!

This is easily the best party I've thrown because so many people wanted to just celebrate a milestone. 

40 years is a long time to spend with one person and they are creeping up on FIFTY soon! Fifty years of saying yes, showing up, doing the hard, celebrating the easy, saying I'm sorry, working together, fighting, praying, loving, learning, through the good, the bad and the in betweens. We aren't promised easy but we do promise forever. Thanks for showing us that, Mom and Dad!

 Italy sound good, Dad? I can help book the flights!