Surprise Parties and Late Night Memories

We had such a memorable time last weekend! It started Friday evening when a number of ladies came over to participate in a surprise bridal shower for até Eleanor, one of the young ladies from our church. (She is getting married at the end of this month—on the 27th to be exact!).

Around 5:30pm on Friday, the guests began trickling in. After some visiting and last minute preparations, we all positioned ourselves for the big surprise. Arriving later with a friend, até Eleanor simply thought she was coming over to eat dinner with us Feenys. Therefore, she was quite shocked—and touched—when 30+ ladies yelled, "Surprise!" and showered her with confetti as she walked through the door. :-)

Family members and friends of the bride.

Sarah with até Vanessa, the maid of honor who did a great job planning this whole bridal surprise party!

Até Eleanor and Meagan

Throughout the evening we listened to a devotion given by Mrs. Quinlan and participated in several bridal games (including a toilet paper, wedding dress contest). It was fun watching the girls model their dresses.:-) Also, several of até Eleanor’s close friends gave some words of encouragement to the bride-to-be.

Mrs. Quinlan

"Left-Right" game:-)

Starting a new fashion for wedding dresses.:-)

Bianca and Karisse did a great job modeling the dresses for everyone.:-)

The entire bridal shower lasted until around 9pm, but our evening did not end there!:-) After the party, about 7 of the young ladies—including the bride, maid of honor, and several bridesmaids—stayed over night. Before going to bed, we girls (and some of the moms) enjoyed a late night dip in the pool.:-) Around midnight, those of us still down by the pool decided to back inside for the night. 

So, after we all finished swimming…

Melissa walked upstairs to Sarah’s room and knocked on the door to ask the girls a question. She was quite surprised when Sarah responded to the knock by saying, “Help! We’re locked inside!” Apparently, while we were downstairs swimming, Sarah and some of the girls had accidentally locked themselves in Sarah's room.

(Since we were on the other side of the house, the girls could not yell for us from Sarah's window. Therefore they tried texting us in hopes of getting our attention before they decided to just wait for us to return from the pool)

When Melissa first knocked on the door, she actually thought Sarah was joking, but then she realized that they were truly stuck inside the room. For some reason, the doorknob just would not budge! 

That sparked our next event for the evening—a rescue party! Well, sort of. :-)  

After communicating with each other through the cracks in the door, we finally decided that the only solution would be to remove the door handle. Since that could only be done from inside the room, we gave them the screwdrivers they needed… by tying the tools onto a broom and handing it up to Sarah’s window on the 2nd floor.:-) After about 30 minutes of effort, they eventually managed to remove the doorknob and emerge from the room safe and sound.:-)

We will definitely remember that little escapade for some time! It will also give us a conversation piece when visitors ask why Sarah’s door has no door knob…. :-)

By the time we washed up and sent até Eleanor on a small treasure hunt, the clocks read 1:30am. Yet, for some of us, the night did not end there! While most of us decided that it was past their bedtime, a few stayed up to watch a movie until the early hours of the morning. Let’s just say that everyone slept really well once their heads hit the pillow!:-)

All in all, we had an absolutely fantastic weekend with these ladies! It was special to help até Eleanor celebrate her bridal shower along with everyone else. We always enjoy the times we get together with these ladies from our church.

Surprises, late nights, locked doors, and time with friends. These all added to our enjoyable weekend. We will treasure these memories that we have with our dear Filipino friends!:-)