Surprise!!!

Last weekend we successfully threw Dominic a Surprise 16th Birthday Party!!!

Let me tell you, this was no easy feat.

That boy can make things so complicated and I thought there was a really good chance that he knew about it.

But NOPE! Totally surprised!

I cannot tell you how many lies I had to tell him in order to pull it off!

Scott and Shawna were awesome and had Dominic over to their house for the day.

There were many phone calls made to clarify what was true and what was not.

Some party details...

I had a few of his closest friends come over early to help me decorate.

We hung 72 balloons from the ceiling, creating (almost) a blanket of Dom's favorite color overhead.

The little ones LOVED the balloons.

I had also purchased 20 of Dominic's favorite candy bar, Twix, with the intention of hanging those from the ceiling as well. Lets just say that tape is not sufficient for that job:)

I created a clothesline of pictures from every one of his birthdays thus far, so guests could see how he has changed over the years.

(This was my favorite decoration!)

And of course I had to include his 16th year!

(From dinner at The Melting Pot on his actual birthday.)

Jeff's mom made the cupcakes.

(I had purchased a "1" and "6" to put on top of one of them, but couldn't for the life of me, find it at the last minute.)

Corben was a huge fan of the cupcakes!

Pizza! Pizza! Pizza!

I set up a "photo booth" in the garage with lots of props to play with.

(I found a lot of great Mardi Gras stuff at the Dollar Tree and came across a couple really cute wooden frames at Michael's and spray painted them.)

Connor and Emma Kate having fun before the party...

Some guests...

Even Harley got in on the action.

We also played a game where everyone got the name of either a Disney character or a current Pop Star put on their backs. Each person had to figure out who he was by asking "yes" or "no" questions.

Emma Kate was "Dora." (She didn't really play but couldn't of course be left out!)

Dom was "Will I Am," Chris was "Lady Gaga"...

You get the picture.

FUN!

Some more guests...

My parents had told Dominic that they weren't going to make it home from a month-long-trip in time for his birthday. Little did he know they had arrived home the day before the party.

They were waiting in the kitchen for Dominic to come through after the initial surprise.

Dom started crying when he saw them there.

LOVE tears!

Remember when you were a teenager and loved to think of cool things to give as gifts?

Here is a basket that "The Girls" put together for him...

Filled with all his favorites.

Complete with Salami, Root Bear, and 16 dollar bills.

So Sweet.

And here's a bag one of the kids made...

Hilarious!

There you have it!

The 16th Birthday Event is now over.

I have been so exhausted this week trying to recover.

But it was worth all the work.

I think I've mentioned that he's a pretty amazing guy.

Happy 16th Birthday Dom!