july 9: surprise party!

In my last post I mentioned that I hoped we could have another backyard party soon. Well, it happened a lot sooner than I thought. Allen (my father-in-law) decided it would be fun to through Dena (mother-in-law) a surprise party this year. Her BIG birthday is next year so he thought she'd be expecting it then. So he said let's do it this year because she'll really be surprised!

So we rounded up the troops and spent a few days pulling together the cutest little backyard picnic surprise party. Allen gave us free reign over decor, set up, etc and we had a blast doing it! Mary, Caitlyn, Leigh Ann and I worked hard to pull it off and I think it turned out adorable!! And Dena was truly surprised!!

 There is a long story about this cake, but let's just say in the end, it turned out so cute and coordinated with all of our decor. 

 The backyard was set up with tables under our oak tree.

 Cute poms that Leigh Ann made with tissue paper.

 Centerpieces included flowers, flatware, and candles set in coffee beans.

 Of course I had to bust out the Silhouette and make some drink labels...

 and a banner.

 We ate bbq for dinner (but that didn't need a pic) and Mary arranged this pretty fruit bowl.

 The "surprise" moment. 

Allen was the "official" host of this party, but we wanted a pic of all the girls who pitched in. 

(Not loving photos of myself these days..7 months preggo does not look well on me)

*Stay tuned for a post about our THIRD backyard party in a row! We had a birthday boy!