All of My Love

Today is the first time I don't get to pick up the phone and call my mom to wish her a Happy Birthday.  It was just 2 years ago that Kraut and I conspired with my sister to plan a surprise birthday party for her and my dad.  She was turning 60 and my dad was turning 61 on March 26th.  The surprise was quite a feat when you consider that we threw it at THEIR house in MS without them ever having a clue.  We had a lot of help to make it all come together.

That year my mom's birthday fell on Fat Tuesday, and they went to Mardi Gras in New Orleans for Mom's actual birthday, so we picked a weekend right in the middle of Mom and Dad's birthdays.  My grandparents brought us some live crawfish, my sister got a cute Mardi Gras cake, Kraut and I brought brats to grill, and my Aunt Nadine kept my parents occupied while we got everything set up.

Quick side note: did you notice Crawfish and Brats?  Yep, this is about the time we came up with the idea of Kraut and Crawfish.  They just went so well together!

Kraut and I drove down from Memphis, TN to Jackson, MS (about an hour north of my parents' house) and spent the night there on Friday.  I even called my mom that night to "talk" (aka make sure our surprise was on track) and when she asked about our weekend plans I fudged and told her we were just hanging out and cooking dinner.  My sister came over on Friday from Baton Rouge and told my mom that there was a school dance at one of the local high schools and that she was going to do prom hair for several of the girls.  We had asked my Aunt Nadine to come in town to "visit" with Mom and Dad and get them out of the house for a few hours.

While they were out, we got all set up and people arrived.  My parents' long country driveway was lined with cars from all the guests.  When my parents arrived back at the house, my mom started freaking out, but not for the reason you might expect!  She thought my sister had invited all the nonexistent high school prom girls over to do their hair at the house!!!!  Mom was venting her frustrations when my Dad piped in and pointed out that these cars looked familiar.  Finally, she recognized mine and Kraut's vehicle and wondered what we would be doing there.  Mom still wasn't 100% sure what was going on, and asked my aunt if she knew about this, to which my aunt just kind of shrugged unassumingly.  Ha!  Her reaction when she came in the house was so cute.  She just burst into tears, and at one point she looked at me and fussed at me for telling her we weren't doing anything for the weekend.  I think she even tried to make me feel guilty for lying, but it didn't really work!!!  Her reaction was so funny, here are some of the pics:

Here is Kraut playing with all my cousins kiddos!  He is going to be such a great dad (probably because he is a bit of a kid himself!):

That was such a fun weekend and its hard to believe that it was 2 years ago already!  I miss you Mom!  I've decided the song of the day should be Led Zeppelin- All of My Love.  This is actually mine and Kraut's song, but today its on loan in honor of my mother's memory.  We are having a service today to lay her ashes to rest at the Naval cemetery here in Pensacola, FL.  She loved being at the beach so I can't think of a better place for her to be.  Today, even though I grieve the loss of her, I'm filled with the love of her spirit and memory, as well as the love I have for my unborn child, my amazing husband and all of my wonderful family that is surrounding us this weekend.

~Crawfish

P.S. Our waiter at dinner even brought out a Happy Birthday dessert for us last night in honor of my mother!