A little surprise for Shannon
Janie has 2 other sisters, and "technically", Shannon is her cousin.
But "really" she's Janie's 3rd sister.
Shannon was Janie's MOH (Maid of Honor) at our wedding. She really stepped up to the plate and not only filled the role, but she friggin' OWNED it. She spearheaded our "Battle of the sexes" paint war, she was instrumental in her "position" as MOH, and she was simply invaluable to Janie on our wedding day. She took being the Maid of Honor very seriously and did a tremendous job.
So now Shannon had this birthday coming up and Janie wanted to plan something special and she went at the task with guns a blazing.
She planned this out for months, designing the details, the artwork, painting a couple of my backdrops, etc. She really poured herself into it.
She found The Studio in Denver and made the arrangements to have the surprise party there.
So on the day of celebration, Janie and I drove down to Denver and Janie got setup in a hotel suite to do her hair and makeup while I was out of sight in another hotel room.
The day before, Karen (Janie's sister) had driven down to where Shannon works while she was away and put this on her desk...
(Karen wrote the poem)
And so she did..
And Shannon was driven from Colorado Springs to Denver, blind folded while her "captors" kept quiet.
They brought her to Janie and the blindfold was removed.
And Janie sat her down and took care of her hair and makeup.
Now, Shannon was all ready for the night, even though she didn't know what was in store for her
When she was done, Lindsey and Amy (her "captors") took her away and off to dinner. In the meantime, Janie and I drove to The Studio and started setting up for the party.
She setup the decorations with the help of family and friends, and I setup a studio to take pictures and got ready to shoot the night.
When we were ready, Shannon was brought to the site blindfolded and was walked to where her family and friends were waiting for her, to give her a warm and welcome SURPRISE!
AND THE PARTY WAS ON!
Janie removed the labels and washed all of the bottles and filled them with her own cocktails with hand made drink tags
Karen, my sister-in-law, made the food. I can still taste these cookies. They just melted in your mouth.
Cindy, Janie's mom, makes the most fantastic cakes. Well, pretty much everything she makes is great. But she IS famous for her cakes.
Our daughter, Rheya Lee, decorated some bricks used to hold up a sign. Aren't these cool?!
Now I want you to pay attention to this one. This is just an example of how creative Janie is. The bottle is wrapped with pages from the Bible. And the purple and green flowers are made out shipping / packing peanuts.
Janie prepping the doorway for Shannon to break through
The crowd waiting patiently
And then the moment arrived, and Shannon burst through the doorway.
Ok, Lindsey kinda helped (shoved) her through
Yep, that's a pillar in front of you Shannon. Put on the BRAKES!
"Oh, HEYYY!"
Ya think? :)
One of these 3 is not like the other..
Disclaimer: Karen, Janie's sister, was NOT drinking alcohol. Just a prop for the photo :)
Bass Elements were onsite to crank up the tunes and kept the party going strong all night!
Lindsey showing off her wicked dance moves
I know that technically, this is not a good photo because of the back focusing that occurred.
But I couldn't resist sharing this one because our good friend Monica here, who on her worst day is nothing less that graceful, got reintroduced to gravity and the floor.
It's awesome that everyone is just standing their laughing at her rather than trying to catch her!
My wife Janie ripping it up on the dance floor
Shannon is having so much fun, and almost everyone around her is pretty much oblivious to what just happened in front of them
Love this one!
Yah, great party for sure.
Thanks for being born Shannon :)