Friday, May 15, 2009

The conspirators return!


We can finally break our silence of the last few days! 

Sandy's sister-in-law, Saskia, let Sandy know about 10 days ago that she was planning a surprise 60th birthday party for her husband (and Sandy's brother) Les. So we decided to be part of the surprise, traveling to Poway, CA, from Mancos to be there when Les got back from taking the kids to T-ball practice Wednesday night. 

Les reads our blog, so we couldn't leave any hints here. We couldn't e-mail Saskia, because he might see that. We could phone her on her cell phone, but she couldn't talk if he was there; she had it on vibrate so he wouldn't know how many calls she was getting in planning the event.

And she/we pulled it off! The cars were all hidden on an adjacent lot and there were maybe 30 people inside the house when Les walked in with the kids. He was stunned/bewildered/flummoxed at all the people in his house. He didn't recognize Sandy at first ... it's been 15 years since they last saw each other ... the pic above is when he did a second take and realized his sister was one of that crowd.

Saskia is a Wonder Woman! She put together a great party, with abundant good food and beverages and activities for all the kids in attendance ... all this on the day after her own birthday, which we didn't know about till we got there.

And, she readily put up these two strangers she'd never met from Colorado! That enabled us to have a quiet morning with the family, visiting and catching up and sharing pictures, before we headed out midday yesterday. The kids were even given a holiday from school so we could get to know them a little and enjoy their presence.

So, now that we're back in Kingman on the way home, we can break our silence and say, thank you so much, Saskia and Les and Zach and Char and Matt and Nick for a wonderful visit and the opportunity to share in Les's celebration of life! tv

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

HOW MUCH FUN!!! And it makes it even better because you WERE able to surprise him!

Is that Sandy in the photo? I'd recognize her anywhere, but that is kind of a side shot so I wanted to be sure!

TOM VAUGHAN & SANDY FEUTZ said...

Yup, that's Sandy, getting the laugh on her brother! We had a great time, and Saskia and the kids couldn't have been more welcoming and gracious. And Leslie makes great waffles!