The short visit in Gulf Shores was WELL WORTH the drive and planning for the Dills!! This 25th has been in the planning phase since Christmas and the Dill kids were just getting more and more excited along the way. What we all didn’t know was how much the surprise would put Papa Dill’s health at risk! Little did we know that he was a “control freak” in his own way and did NOT like surprises!!
Let me spill a couple brief stories that should have been filmed and just might have made YouTube’s hit list! A little side note: Melissa, Andrew’s sister (daughter of Paula), did most of the coordinating. I just simply helped keep everything on track. She informed us all that Mom and Dad are NOT to do ANYTHING, nor pay for anything the entire weekend. This was a weekend ALL about them. Therefore, we do the cooking, grilling, driving, and so forth.
Friday night:
Melissa said we need to eat by 5:30p…so she patted down some burgers, started on some YUMMY baked beans, and informed her husband, Patrick, to start the grill. Soooo, Mr. Bill Dill wanted to start the fire. Oh, and let me mention that they called earlier to see if they needed lighter fluid...but didn’t get any since they thought there would be some there already.
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Melissa is inside preparing and Patrick let his father-n-law take over (he didn’t want to argue so he just watched)…Bill, the engineer, grabbed a coffee container full of bacon grease to scatter over the charcoal (thinking it would help the fire start faster). Not working, so he grabbed a towel – unsuccessful so, he grabbed some pill bottles filled with more bacon grease. In the meantime, everyone is thinking where they got all the bacon grease. Melissa has a meltdown since Papa Dill says we’ll start the grill at 6p. By this time, we arrive and I asked to help. So, I cut up some lettuce, tomatoes, onions and just do my own thing all while the commotion is going on. Andrew steps outside to help and makes matters worse….puts the burgers on top of 6ft flames! After the burgers were “so-called” ready, we finally had dinner and were very concerned about our health – pink burgers over pill bottles, towels, and bacon grease!!! Most of us do not eat rare burgers (except for Andrew) and I like mine well-done! Andrew leans over and says not once but twice, “Melissa, I think your cow says MOO.”
Notice the coffee container in the background ;-)
As you can see...the smoke is smoldering our burgers.
Friday, I got to spend a little time with our cute nephews :-)
Lil Thomas is just too adorable in Andrew's hat.Saturday:
Melissa and I head over to the church to decorate around 3p. Andrew comes along and was supposed to leave in time to pick up the parents for our 5p dinner. The surprise reception was at 7p at the church. Andrew barely made it to their house before they left to drive themselves. We had dinner at a beautiful French restaurant owned by one of Mama Dill’s friends. We acted like this was their BIG surprise because Mama Dill didn’t know her aunt, cousin, and 2nd cousin were going to be there…she was VERY surprised!! Chris and Andrea bought a small cake at Wal-Mart with pink and polka-dotted number “25” candles to throw them off (FYI…they asked for a “real” wedding cake they never got). We had them do the wedding tradition of feeding each other the cake (all while laughing on the inside – except Chris couldn’t hold his in).
Melissa and I head over to the church to decorate around 3p. Andrew comes along and was supposed to leave in time to pick up the parents for our 5p dinner. The surprise reception was at 7p at the church. Andrew barely made it to their house before they left to drive themselves. We had dinner at a beautiful French restaurant owned by one of Mama Dill’s friends. We acted like this was their BIG surprise because Mama Dill didn’t know her aunt, cousin, and 2nd cousin were going to be there…she was VERY surprised!! Chris and Andrea bought a small cake at Wal-Mart with pink and polka-dotted number “25” candles to throw them off (FYI…they asked for a “real” wedding cake they never got). We had them do the wedding tradition of feeding each other the cake (all while laughing on the inside – except Chris couldn’t hold his in).
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Andrew offered to drive home and we said, “see you all back at the house!” Driving to the church (which was just down the road) seemed like FOREVER! Andrew says, “let’s look around at some antique shops!” Even though we had his sister, Betsy and her friend, his parents, and myself. Papa Dill is getting impatient thinking we had to get back to unlock the house, says all the shops are closed. Then he tells Andrew where to turn to go home…Andrew accidentally (but purposely) misses it. So he yells out to take the next right turn…and misses again. This time, he got frustrated, impatient, and tells Andrew he was distracted (by this airplane and sarcastically asked where we live and comments on how we’ve never seen a plane before) and informs Andrew he needs to pay attention. In addition, he’s uptight about us taking the long route home.
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Andrew offered to drive home and we said, “see you all back at the house!” Driving to the church (which was just down the road) seemed like FOREVER! Andrew says, “let’s look around at some antique shops!” Even though we had his sister, Betsy and her friend, his parents, and myself. Papa Dill is getting impatient thinking we had to get back to unlock the house, says all the shops are closed. Then he tells Andrew where to turn to go home…Andrew accidentally (but purposely) misses it. So he yells out to take the next right turn…and misses again. This time, he got frustrated, impatient, and tells Andrew he was distracted (by this airplane and sarcastically asked where we live and comments on how we’ve never seen a plane before) and informs Andrew he needs to pay attention. In addition, he’s uptight about us taking the long route home.
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Well, we finally made it to the reception and they were shocked but relieved to see the final results! They were so emotional and even renewed their vows! It was beautiful and so memorable!!
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The Dills are spread out over the regional area and it was a FANTASTIC short weekend to all be together (except we had 2 missing grandkids and son-n-law). We even squeezed in some beach time and lots of family time. Bill and Paula looked stunning. Paula wore her original wedding dress and Bill wore his original tie. They both wore their original wedding bands. It was so sentimental which made it more beautiful!
The Dills are spread out over the regional area and it was a FANTASTIC short weekend to all be together (except we had 2 missing grandkids and son-n-law). We even squeezed in some beach time and lots of family time. Bill and Paula looked stunning. Paula wore her original wedding dress and Bill wore his original tie. They both wore their original wedding bands. It was so sentimental which made it more beautiful!
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CONGRATS to Bill and Paula on their 25th Wedding Anniversary!!!
CONGRATS to Bill and Paula on their 25th Wedding Anniversary!!!
The Dill kids
The set up...their Anniversary cake :-)
And we finally arrived without anyone having an aneurysm ;-)
They were SUPRISED!!!!
A wedding cake they never had...
Renewing their vows in Paula's original wedding dress and Bill's original tie and they used their original wedding bands...so SWEET!!!
Mr. & Mrs. Dill...25 years later! And they couldn't look more BEAUTIFUL!!! .
This was such a wonderful time. You and Melissa rocked on getting everything put together.
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