Charl's Happy 37th!

Charl turned 37 last Friday. I'm not very good at getting cards...mostly because I don't like to write in them, so I made a video instead and had him watch it before he left for work. I think he enjoyed it.



The Story of the Day: The plan for the day was to have everyone (Louws and Pews), meet for dinner and ice cream at Emmett and Ethel's, a gourmet hamburger and ice cream shoppe in Lehi. It just opened up a little while ago and we wanted to try it. But before dinner and while Charl was work, I had to get the present ready. A week before his birthday, his mom asked him what he wanted for his birthday. He didn't really give an answer, but a day later he made a list and e-mailed it to his family. Then his mom called me for help on making a decision. That's when I told her that the thing he would be most excited and surprised about getting is a basketball hoop, which was NOT on his list. (Ever since we've been married -almost 4 years- he's been dreaming of getting a hoop.) But, I said that I'd only get it if my birthday was included in it as well since it's a pricey gift. I had told my mom about the idea and she said she would contribute to the gift too. Well, my mom nearly ruined the surprise. The morning of his birthday, she e-mailed me and asked if I had gotten the b-ball hoop for Charl. I was fuming when I saw this e-mail because I could tell that Charl had already read the e-mail. My mom had no idea that we use the same e-mail and that he checks it from work. The wheels in my head began to turn once I cooled down. I replied back to my mom saying that I decided not to get the hoop because it was too expensive and our backyard wasn't ready for a basketball hoop yet. I also let her know that Charl and I share the e-mail address and that he already saw her e-mail so she was lucky that she didn't ruin any surprises. I created that story knowing that Charl would also read that e-mail. After my "damage control" story, I loaded the kids in the car and met Charl's mom at the mall to buy the basketball hoop. We needed to put the basketball hoop in her car so Charl wouldn't suspect anything. I waited until the day of his birthday to buy it so he wouldn't look at the credit card statement and wonder what was purchased at Sport's Authority...the accountant in him can't resist looking at bank statements! We also ran into Costco and got him a basketball, too. Fast forward a few hours...We all meet at the restaurant and have dinner (that's another story). After we finished eating, his mom said I'll go get the present from the car. At this point Charl is thinking it's not a basketball hoop because he know his mom couldn't bring that into the restaurant by herself. She returned with the basketball. She didn't wrap it so Charl just had a strange look on his face, not sure what to think. Then he opened up the card and inside was money. He was thankful and slightly stunned at the amount of money inside. Then his mom said, "the rest is in the car." He was dazed and said "what! you got the hoop?" We all laughed. So in the end I think he really was surprised. On the drive home, we finally talked about the exchange of e-mails from me and my mom. The story I fed him did throw him off so he wasn't expecting the hoop at all. He said it was a good surprise and that it still would have been a good surprise had I not created the cover up story.

He spent all of Saturday evening putting it together...which is not an easy thing to do by yourself. Now we are just waiting for warmer weather so we can enjoy it!

Here are some pictures from dinner at Emmett and Ethel's.

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