The Rutledge Family: A Birthday Surprise

I successfully pulled off a surprise birthday dinner for Brandon tonight. I do think the birthday boy was pleased if I do say so myself! The idea came to me a few weeks ago after Brandon was diagnosed with cancer. I knew that Brandon would need a lot of encouragement during this time in his life and I thought there was no better time than for his birthday (April 24th).

So in a very last-minute rush, I called his favorite burger dive, ordered, addressed and mailed 30 invites and called a local baker for his favorite cake - carrot cake. The planning wasn't too hard to keep away from Brandon. He usually doesn't ask too many questions about what I'm doing on the computer or rushing to the post office for (I think this is probably typical "man" behavior, no?)

I finally told him a few days ago that we had dinner plans with our long-time friends Ann and Blake for Thursday night and that I had arranged for his parents to babysit. On the way to the restaurant, I was texting my mother - "getting off the interstate" or "in the parking lot", all the while telling Brandon that I was texting Ann because we were running late. We even parked next to our neighbor's one-in-a-million BMW station wagon with a bike rack, and Brandon never noticed. We rounded the corner into the restaurant and everyone began singing "Happy Birthday"!

Brandon turned beet red and was grinning ear-to-ear!! He had noooo idea! I know that he was glad to see everyone - all of whom have been so supportive and encouraging to him over the last few weeks. All the way home, he talked about how awesome it was to see everyone - especially our neighbors and friends from out of town. So thank you to everyone who brought your families out on a school night to help us celebrate Brandon's 27th birthday. We have so much to celebrate this year and we are so blessed to have each of you in our lives! Here are a few pics from the party (excuse the date on the pics - not sure about that?) -