My sister's 30th.

My little (not so little) sister turned 30 on the 27th. How did this happen? I can still remember so clearly my sister twirling in her favorite pink dress that she would beg my mom to wear to school every day. My mom did not let her, ha. It’s amazing how as each day passes everything seems the same and then one day everything is so different.

For her 30th birthday, my sister decided to pay Sean and me a visit. She came with my nephew and her fiancé. They arrived Friday evening and we had a fun evening of bowling and stuffing our faces with food. After bowling we watched the new “Annie”. Not sure if I’ve ever shared this but when I was a little girl “Annie” was my favorite movie. My nephew is 5 years old and when I asked him if he had seen the original "Annie" he looked at me with a blank stare. I told him that we would fix it but unfortunately everyone was not up to that. Only one “Annie” movie was tolerated that evening. Boo to that.

My older sister, Emma, made plans with me to surprise Priscilla. Priscilla had no idea that Emma would arrive Saturday morning to help celebrate her 30th. I kept in touch with Emma all Saturday morning that way she could tell me when she was in PA that way I could keep Priscilla occupied and away from the front door. I also left the door unlocked (I never do this!) that way there was no need for knocking or doorbell ringing.

I received a "I'm here" text from my sister while Priscilla was in the bathroom doing her makeup. I pretended to do my makeup too that way we could talk a little and give my sister Emma, my brother in law and niece time to get into the kitchen without being seen. It was a close call because when my nephew saw Emma and Noa come up the stairs he began to run to his mom to tell her. I grabbed him by an itch of clothing to stop him. I quietly said, "go into the kitchen, we’re surprising your mom". And Sean held on to him. At one point, Noa sees me and loudly says, "Hi Auntie Faith" and of course she is quickly shushed. Amazingly, Priscilla did not hear a thing.

Sean and Emma began to place candles on the cake and I wait until they are done and go back to the bathroom and very dramatically tell Priscilla that Zach has something up his nose. My sister puts her mascara down and looks at me in horror and says, "What? What does he have in his nose? Where is he?" I advised her that he was in the kitchen. She walks quickly to the kitchen with me following close behind and in unison we scream, SURPRISE! My sister’s reaction was the best one I’ve seen in a while. She was so, so surprised and could not believe that my sister traveled all the way to surprise her for her birthday. There was a lot of, "Seriously?! This isn't happening!" Big smiles and hugs. And it was perfect.

Anticipation.

SURPRISE!!!


Success.




Family is everything.