Surprised after all...

Surprise #1:
Sunday evening, H and I hosted our 2nd annual Super Bowl Party. We invited 35 or so couples, expecting/hoping that maybe a third of those would show up. We got 12 regrets ahead of time, so that left around 24 couples who 'might' show up. Of those 24, 7 couples and 3 individuals indicated they would attend (16 adult, 7 child guests). We also received a call on Saturday from a friend who said he might bring 5-10 friends with him. We were ecstatic at the prospect of having a great turnout for the party.

Well, 2 couples who had RSVP'd in the affirmative ended up with a stomach flu and cancelled (4 adults and 5 kids) , 2 couples that we hadn't heard from but expected might come called Sunday to say they wouldn't be able to make it (4 adults, 6 kids - more flu), 1 couple and 1 individual just didn't show up and the friend and his 10 buddies didn't show either.

4 couples came. Grand total: 10 guest adults, 4 kids (2 of whom were big enough to eat) , H and I.

We had prepared Philly Cheese Steaks for around 20 adults and 10 kids (10 lbs of london broil, 48 hoagies, 6 green peppers, 2 packages sliced mushrooms, 4 onions, 40 slices of provolone, 2 cans of Cheese Whiz, 2 bottles of hot peppers, 1 can of fried onions) and one large pot of Chowder. 4 or so of the guests brought desserts (brownies, choc chip brownies, dirt cake, chocolate chip cake, etc...) and we had 4 large bags of chips (Doritos, Tostitos, Wavy Lays) and a few dips (salmon dip, chipotle pepper dip, french onion dip, chili-cheese dip). Oh and 60 or so beers, a case of bottled water and a 12 pack each of Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite and Diet Barqs.

All for 16 people.

Poor H is drowning in Cheesesteak, Chowder, Chocolate Chips and Cheap Beer. If you're hungry, give us a call.

Surprise #2:
While H was entertaining our first guests, Bubba and I posted poster size pictures of her as a child all over the house. We also hung up a Happy Birthday banner and an extra large baby picture up outside that our guests would see as they came in. She had no idea until someone walked and dead-panned to her, "Nice picture outside...". She was completely surprised (and a little embarrassed), but I think she appreciated the effort that it took. So, thanks to Jenny for the idea, H's mom for getting the pics and Bubba for helping me hang pictures. Also thanks to those who were able to make it out. Our prayers go out to those who were sick and couldn't make it.