One of favorite things to do is surprise people. When my mom texted our immediate family and her family from Upstate New York saying that she wanted to plan a surprise 50th birthday for my aunt, I was all in.

The original plan was to have my family surprise her at breakfast and then take her out to dinner that night and all of her friends and family would be there to wish her happy birthday. I started scheming and decided we needed to surprise my aunt all. day. long.

Here’s what went down:

• My family drove to NY on Friday after work and checked into a local hotel.
• My aunt went to out breakfast with her cousin on Saturday morning, and there sitting in the restaurant was my dad, mom, brother, and sister-in-law.
• Then, the gang went to TJ Maxx to go shopping… and Hannah, Josh, and my aunt’s daughter were hanging out in the decor section.
• For round three, the girls told my aunt they made a nail appointment for her. She walked in the nail salon and Jimmy, me, and two of my cousins were there!
• The guys and a few of the girls went ice fishing on the Sacandaga Lake while the rest of the girls had their nails done and then went to my cousin’s house to play with her daughter.
• For dinner, my aunt’s friend had told her she was taking her to a local restaurant for a girls’ night about a week before, but instead she was greeted by 25 friends and family, balloons, and cake. It was the best!

My aunt was so surprised all day, and it was such a joy to see her reaction. She’s been through a lot in the past year, including the death of her husband. She definitely deserved some cheering up, and we were all more than happy to be there to celebrate with her.

How about some pictures?

It was a whirlwind weekend with 14 hours of driving, but so worth it. I wish we could have stayed longer, but we’ll see our NY family in April for Hannah’s bridal shower!

Surprises are the best 🙂