Happy Birthday Granny Sharp!

A couple weekends ago we left Denver on Thursday evening and flew to Orange County, California to surprise Granny Sharp (Brian's grandmother on his mom's side) for her 80th birthday party. As far as Granny knew, Chris (Brian's mom) was coming to visit for the week, and there was nothing too unusual about that. Well, Wednesday night, Jeff and Susie showed up. Then we arrived on Thursday night, along with Brian's dad, Doug. Granny was pretty surprised by this point, but assumed that we were done with surprises. Little did she know....

On Friday, while Chris finalized preparations for the big birthday blowout on Sunday, the kids and Granny toured the area. We went to Laguna Beach (the water was freezing!!!)

We drove down the coast all the way to Dana Point and had some great pizzas for lunch. On our way home we went to Trader Joe's. I was thrilled with this part of the trip. I've heard so many great things about Trader Joe's and it met all my expectations.

Friday evening was spent at Steve and Julie Sharp's(Brian's aunt and uncle) beautiful home in Glendora, California. A few other surprise guests arrived at this point, including Granny's other daughter Karen and her niece Margaret who she hadn't seen in decades! Granny's other son Bruce, his wife Connie, and their kids Jackie and Megan were also there. We pulled it off like this was the big birthday party (note the decorations).

But wait, the surprises weren't over yet! The next morning the grandkids and Steve and Julie worked hard to get the social hall at Granny's church party-ready. The room looked beautiful. There were lots of nice decorations and great food. Meanwhile, Chris and Doug convinced Granny to dress up a bit for a nice lunch out with the grandkids before they went home.

They stopped by the church, and she was greeted by over 100 of her closest friends and family!

People came from all over the country for the party. Some of her oldest friends were there (from grade school and college), her Red Hat friends, exercise buddies, bridge club, etc. We all wore nametags, which helped put everyone in context.

Here's Brian with Steve and Julie's kids: Alison, Kevin, and Katie. It was so much fun to hang out with them for the weekend.


Here's Chris will all her cousins.... And here's Granny with her two brothers, Glen and Tom. After all the party excitement was over for the day...we were famished. And what better way to end a weekend trip to California than In N' Out Burger!!!! I had never tasted these great burgers, and it was quite a treat! We even went back again the next day on our way to airport...

It was a wonderful trip and it was so nice to see the Sharp family and meet some new family members. It's nice to be back in CO where gas isn't quite this expensive though!!!!!!!

Happy 80th Birthday Granny Sharp! I Love You Very Much!!