Turning 50 Part 4

Katelyn's husband, Matt, wrote this one. Don and I love having him as our one and only son-in-law. It makes us happy that, after being around our crazy brood for a couple of years now, Matt will still claim us. By the way, if you saw Katelyn's rock, you would approve as well! :)

This one is from my aunt Cindy. I am blessed with some pretty wonderful aunts, but I've got to admit, Cindy is my favorite. She is only seven years older than me and, for that reason, I spent more time with her than any of the others. I have soooo many fond memories of her! Obviously, she was a great sport to include me on her dates. 

Best girl trip ever...up to that point. 

We were at this mall in Rancho Cucumonga, CA...

and, as we left the H & M store, I noticed one of the zippers on my backpack was down. I searched my backpack for my wallet and couldn't find it. I was sure someone had unzipped the backpack and stole it. Beverly, Jennica, Katelyn and I looked everywhere and Bev was really close to jumping a guy that "looked guilty" standing by the trashcan. I phoned my husband back home and had him call the bank to put a stop on our credit cards. Then, when we got back in the car, I looked in my backpack one more time, and there was my wallet. 

I think it was Jennica who took this photo of me from the back seat. As you can see, the girls still won't let me forget that moment in time. 

Talitha is my daughter-in-law. She is a fantastic cook and such a good mom! Talitha must also have a great sense of humor and a lot of spunk to be married to my son Chase, who is a big kid at heart and loves teasing everyone.

Much like my brother-in-law's note on the last post, this is another "you had to be there" moment. John is a co-worker and good friend. 

Susan is John's wife. We DID have a great time watching the taping of Wheel of Fortune! You can read about it here .

Bridger is my great-nephew (my sister's grandson). Reading children's handwriting is my favorite! I am so glad Bridger had a good time at my house eating pizza. :)

Of all the teachers I've worked with over the years, I've been with Susan the longest. She is amazing! Never has she made me feel inferior or asked me to do anything I am not comfortable with. Consider yourself blessed if your child was/is lucky enough to have her for a teacher.

If you missed the previous "Turning 50" posts, here are the links...

Turning 50 Part 1

Turning 50 Part 2

Turning 50 Part 3

Turning 50 Part 3

Surprise parties are fun... unless you happen to have autism and aren't clued in. People with ASD thrive on routine and Cody's no exception. Katelyn took this into consideration when planning my party, but felt she had no option but to keep it from Cody, for fear he would slip up and say something. Looking back, however, I actually think Cody handled the evening pretty well, considering Don and I were SUPPOSE to leave and go to dinner, instead of stay and mingle, and he was SUPPOSE to be alone with Matt and Katelyn, instead of in a noisy crowd of people. 

Cody, who happens to be blind as well, loves his family and friends very much and knows most of them by sound and a few of them by feeling their hands and arms. He became really excited when, as the minutes passed by, he heard voices of different loved ones. Once he realized they were in the room, Cody would blurt out, "Grandma!" or "Teresa Pie!" or "T-T-T-T-Tony!" (He likes to nickname almost everyone.)

Before Don and Cody and I arrived, Katelyn asked everyone to write down their favorite memory about me. Later, she read each one and made me guess who they were from. It should have been easy, but wasn't. I'm not use to being in the spotlight and my brain was on complete overload. My sister, who is a whopping two years younger than me, quite enjoyed watching me struggle. She blamed it on my age and told me, "You know DeeAnn, the brain is the first thing to go."

The following are a few of the handwritten memories from those who chose to participate. Because each individual means the world to me, I want to include every one. Therefore, I'm going to have to extend my Turning 50 blog posts series from 3 to 4.  My apologies. ;)

This is my little brother, Brandon. I did not slap him. It had to have been Teresa. :) I DID slam his finger in the car door once, but it was an accident. And...when Brandon was in his early teens, he DID scare the hell out of Don by tying a pull string firework to the microwave, then politely asking Don to please get "the butter" out of the microwave for him. When Don opened the microwave and the firework popped, it scared the crap out of him. Don was pissed, but the rest of us laughed our guts out. 

Cottia is my niece. I decided after NOT being able to guess Cottia's and Amberlee's (below), that I suck as an aunt. 

Kelsie is also my niece. She has an awesome husband, Jeremy, and three adorable little kids.

This one is from my brother-in-law, Tony, and I guessed his right away. I don't even want to attempt to explain. I could try to get him and Teresa to write a guest post about it, but reading the story would not even come close to hearing Tony talk about it. :)

This is from another one of my blog supporters, my mother's husband, Lynn. He is always

encouraging me to write and I appreciate that. Thanks Lynn! 

This note is from Maddison. She is technically my cousin, but more like a niece. Maddi and Katelyn are the same age and great friends. Don and I loved taking Maddi with us to Disneyland and she is right... nobody loves Disneyland more than me. 

This one is from my sister-in-law (Brandon's wife), Melissa. We DO love to play games on holidays!

Awww. Love you too mom!

Turning 50 Part 2

The plan was to go out to dinner with my husband for my birthday Friday evening. Katelyn volunteered to keep Cody at her house, which would work out perfectly, since we had to drive along that route to the restaurant anyway.  Chase let me know earlier in the week that he and his wife and kids would come over Saturday, instead of Friday. Casey texted me Thursday and said he and his girlfriend would come by the house sometime on my birthday. I replied back to him that his dad and I would be going out to dinner, so he should call first and make sure we're home.

I knew Katelyn worked until 6:00, so I fixed Cody some Kraft Mac and Cheese and plopped on the sofa with my laptop to leisurely peruse the internet. (Totally oblivious to the fact that nearly everyone in my life was scrambling and/or traveling to get to Katelyn's house before I arrived.) Don had been working on our baseboards and bathroom vanity (future blog post), when he came in the room and asked if I thought he should change clothes before we go. He was wearing old, faded denim shorts and a gray t-shirt, so of course I told him, "Um, yes. At least change your shirt, so you don't look so washed out." At the last minute, I decided I would go freshen up my make-up a bit (and thank goodness I did)! I was brushing through my hair when, at 6:12, I got a text from Katelyn that said, "Hey, I'm finally on my way home." 

Katelyn and her husband live in a nice, quiet subdivision near a golf course and when we arrived, nothing looked out of the ordinary. With Cody on my arm, his medication and some mail for Katelyn in my hand, and Don standing behind us, I quietly knocked on their door. As Matt opened it, I heard a loud "Surprise!!" and saw family and friends and co-workers staring back at me. I wish I had a picture of the overwhelming crowd of people I saw from my view point, but here are a couple that someone happened to snap of me...

Katelyn told me she knew the surprise was genuine because I jumped up and down. (I don't remember doing that.) The feeling I had as I noticed each and every person there, was awe-inspiring to say the least. Many family members had traveled long distances and the thought that everyone had taken time at the end of their work week and beginning of a holiday week-end to spend with me, made me feel exceptionally loved.

The kids went all out and had food and decorations galore (Katelyn later informed me that she had taken the day off and that we could have taken a trip with all the money she and Casey spent). I wish I had more pics to share, because it truly was an amazing evening. I am sooooo appreciative of my kids and the effort they put in to carrying out such a fun and successful event. 

Here are just a few of the cards and gifts that I received...

My sister, Teresa, and friend, Beverly, brought these lovely gifts. Neither of
them have hit 50 yet and should realize "What goes around, comes around". 

I love, love, LOVE this gift from my grandsons!

My daughter-in-law, Talitha, made this autumn wreath for me.

Because there were absolutely no cars on the street in front of Katelyn and Matt's house, one of the questions I had was, "Where did everyone park?" (Seriously, there were 35+ people in her house!) Katelyn had thought of everything and had all the guests park at the golf course parking lot and walk. Thank goodness it wasn't too far.


I'll write about Cody's reaction to my surprise party, as well as the game we played, in my next post, Turning 50 Part 3.

Turning 50 Part 1 (Yes. It Was THAT Good!)

I did it. I hit the dreaded, milestone 50th birthday yesterday and I've got to say, it wasn't at all bad. In fact, thanks to my awesome kids, fabulous extended family and amazing friends, it was the BEST birthday I've ever had!

The morning started off great with Cody giving me a C.O. My facebook friends know the story behind this gift. For those of you who don't, Cody has wanted to get me an electric can opener (C.O.) for my birthday for awhile now and not because I need one. Cody, in all his autistic glory, has WANTED me to want one.

When I arrived at the school, Mrs. B. had these sitting on my table, along with a cute card...

She and the children sang the birthday song to me and, when the Kindergarten students wanted to know my age, I responded, "I'm a grandma, so how old do you think I am?" One little girl shouted "18!", which was much kinder than Cody telling me I was almost 100.

After work, my husband treated me to lunch at Olive Garden and, when we got home, Casey had been at our house and left a card and this gift on the kitchen counter...

A 50 dollar iTunes card for my new iPhone! Hellzzyeah! :)

AND...

Throughout the entire day (week/month/?), I had NO idea THIS was going to happen...

I had to erase the address and phone number. Obviously. :)

You will want to stay tuned for Turning 50 Parts 2 and 3. I promise it gets even better!