Surprise! It's Your 25th Birfday (again), Aimster!

by CajunKate

So last night we (Mom, Dad, Byron, and I) all traveled together to Baton Rouge to celebrate a very special occasion, Aimee's birthday! Now, normally, I try to live by my own personal eleventh addition to the Ten Commandments- "Though shalt not spend extended time in towns composed of refineries, strip malls, ghettos, and a large football stadium."- but, for Aimee, I gladly sin. Truth be told, about 19 years ago (s**t, I'm old!) when we were roommates, Aimee and I pretty much cemented our relationship by together endeavoring to break quite a few of the original ten. Good times, good times!

And 2008 may just go down as "The Year of the Surprise Party" in the Daigle family. First we surprised Burt on his 30th birthday, and last night we surprised Aimee for her 25th (*cough* 40th *cough*) birthday. We only need to have one more, and we'll have a trifecta!

Truth be told, I think Aimee's sisters, Katie and Mimi, were more the instigators behind this party, much like Melissa was for Burt's. It appears we Daigles, as a whole, are "surprise party planning deficient." That's okay. If it all goes wrong, we can just sit back and be all like, "Hey, I just showed up as told. I had nothing to do with the actual planning of pissing you off!"

Not that CRoy, once Aimee's sisters came up with the actual idea, wasn't excited about surprising Aimee. There were two major clues as to how excited he was. First off, he called me up on Monday to invite me. A whole FOUR days before the party. Usually if I get a call or an email from CRoy about BR Daigle events, it's like 3:30 PM on Wednesday, and the thing starts at 6:00 PM. Another huge clue that he was excited is this largely elaborated by me version original transcript of a conversation we had a few minutes before we got to the BR Daigles' compound:
*Ring! Ring!*
CRoy: Hello?
Me: Hey, Chuck! It's Katie...Katie Mottram... (s**t, does he even know what my married name is?)...uh, Katie Daigle...not Katie C****y...uh, not your sister-in-law. Ugh, it's your sister!
CRoy (fully cognizant of my R.S.S.D.): Yeah, I got it, since Katie C****y is standing right in front of me.
Me: Oh, right. (Self, are an idiot!)
CRoy: Man, Aimee's not gonna have a clue! She's out with Mimi shopping and then, when she gets here, I'm going to be out in the yard in my shorts and a t-shirt watering the plants like "There's nothing in the world going on here!" She's gonna be SO surprised!
Me: Uh-huh. Look, where should we park when we get to your house?
CRoy: Man, is she gonna be surprised! She's gonna be so surprised! I know she doesn't know! And then, when she gets here, I'm going to be out in the yard in my shorts and a t-shirt watering the plants like "Oh, just a normal day!" She's gonna be SO surprised!
Me: Uh-huh. Where should we park?
CRoy: Oh, man! This is so going to work! She's out shopping with Mimi, and Mimi is going to call us right before they get here. And then, when they get here, I'm just going to be out in the yard in my shorts and a t-shirt watering the plants like "La-di-dah. Just a regular old Friday." There's NO WAY she knows what's going on!
Me: DUDE! Just tell me where to park!

(Sidenote: When we got there, after safely parking, I was standing around in the kitchen talking to the other Katie, Aimee's sister, when her husband Fred said, "What is that? Is that... the "Good Times" music?!?" HA! My phone and its new ringtone. Love it!) Anyway, Mimi, not wanting to tip her off, had to let Aimee direct their shopping show. This meant extended trying on of bathing suits (ed. note: *shudder*) and an unscheduled stop at Dillard's. This worked out really well as it gave those running late a chance to actually be there for the surprise. Watch it all go down:



Yep, she sure was surprised! (To see an extended version with more clips and pics, go HERE.) She had to take a few minutes to recover. And, also, she said the EXACT same thing I would have said at my own surprise party in my own house. When I walked over to wish her happy birthday, she was laughingly saying to Charlie, "You invited all these people over to my dirty house?" The only difference is her house is NEVER dirty, whereas mine always is...and okay, I probably would have been more like wickedly hissing in Alex's ear, "Please tell me you cleaned the f***ing bathrooms!"

And here is a sampling of pics from the party. Lots more to see on Flickr.

Here we have gorgeous birthday girlie Aimee and Charlie Roy.

Here we have lovely birthday lady Aimee and Daddy.

Here we have the best of the bunch- birthday girl Aimee and daughter Emily.

Here we have Aimee with her sisters- Katie on the left and Mimi on the right. Katie is not only beautiful but a master party organizer. And Mimi, just as beautiful as her sisters, gave birth only a week and a half ago (!) to son Gabriel...in an hour...without an epidural. Can you say, "Whoa! Superwoman!" I am completely and utterly envious of this exquisite gene pool of loveliness.

Here we have...uh, I'm guessing complete goofballs.

Have I mentioned that Aimee is a wonderful, caring person with a heart of gold who deserves all the happiness in the world? Have I mentioned that a girl could not have a better sister-in-law? Have I mentioned that she was the original sister-in-law who set the bar really, really freaking high for all future sister-in-laws? Now, I can't go so far as to say she's my favorite sister-in-law 'cause I really, really like the others (Hi, Molly! Hi, Melissa!), BUT I will say that she was an extremely tough act to follow.

So happy 25th birthday, Aimee! You're the best! Saaaaay, let's do this next year when you turn 25 (again)!