is it a lie if it is for a surprise????

Michaela blowing out the candles on her cheesecake

August 14th has come and gone... Michaela has turned another year older; enter into the next phase of her life... and because she has a sneaky, conniving Mama {with some fabulous friends}, she did with a surprise party!!! Stephen and I had a celebration planned with 7 of her friends from church and her friend Rachel from Alabama, a stretch hummer, dinner at (where else) Olive Garden, and rooms for the night at the Marriott Hotel~~~none of which Michaela knew about~~because as I said, I am conniving and sneaky! Unfortunately the absence of a paycheck create the necessity of putting those plans on hold. We explained to Michaela that her celebration would have to be delayed. Of course, because she is the kind-hearted young lady that she is, she was content with just a small family celebration.

But, because of the great friends I have, a hotel room was donated to us in La Grange, food was provided by friends, and all 7 of Michaela's girl friends were able to come {except Rachel who was 6 hours away :(}~~~all arranged Thursday night!!!! The fun part was trying to keep the celebration a secret and getting Michaela to La Grange without her being suspicious!

Good thing she has a sneaky, conniving Mama:)

So the elaborate detailed lie story was created and the deception began!

*** I explained to Michaela that parents, and parents only, are allowed to tell holiday stories~~they are not lies :):)

and....WE PULLED IT OFF!!! She was completely surprised.

YEAH!!! So now I am in a hotel room listening to the breathing of 7 sleeping teenage girls (all but one asleep before 1:00am~~light weights!) wondering if I will actually fall asleep tonight...

and thanking God for the blessings of my selfless, genuine Christian friends, Penny, Gina, Cari, and Regina!

I cannot wait until later this morning because she has another HUGE surprise from Alabama~~~I will update with the info as soon as she receives her phone call:)

**no great pictures... my friends and I sat in the meeting room and talked and left the girls to themselves in the pool and hot tub!!
Hopefully I can get some tomorrow today before they all leave~~if I am awake enough.