Birthday party surprise

Linda and John saying "SURPRISE!"

Last Sunday we went over to Orlando for our friend Karen's surprise birthday party.

she really had no idea anything was up...she thought her son Eric had made plans for Karen, Al and her mother to meet him for lunch.

Karen and her sister Linda have been helping their mother take care of their sister Laura for the last year and a half.

Her son decided after all she had been through......first helping with care of Laura...then negotiating with care givers, doctors, lawyers, social workers etc...to find a place that could take care of her when the job got to be too much for the family. Anyone who has been through this with a family member...knows the whole process can be exhausting. You get one person to do what they need to do (fill out forms, etc) then you have to make sure everyone else is also doing their part. They went back and forth with the social worker...and finally had to get a lawyer to help. It took months...all the while they were doing their best to take care of Laura. Finally in April (?) if I remember correctly, they managed to get all the pieces in place and they got Laura into a facility. It happens to be only 15 minutes from Karen's home in Casselberry...so it all worked out well.  After all of this...her son Eric decided he wanted to do something special for her.

Linda, Lisa, Linda,Karen, Anne and Jane- friends from over the last 4o some years.

Karen and the boys

He sent out a notice to family and friends...inviting us to come and surprise her. He had a cookout planned....and of course it had to include her favorite chocolate cake! (Linda made it...it was good!) As you can see there were actually several cakes...NO Problem!...hahah the more the better.
John and I rode over with Lisa...which was nice. we got to catch up on the way over and back...and with Lisa's GPS and John in charge of reading the directions...we only made one or two wrong turns... ;)
 It was a nice day...and a good surprise for Karen.