Mom's suprise!

For those of you who may not know, my Mother plays the organ at the Mt. Gretna Roller Rink, in Mt. Gretna, PA. It was a position that was held by my Grandfather, Ray Long, for over 42 years! He played every Saturday night from September till May. After his passing in May of 2009, Mt. Gretna Roller Rink has never been the same. It is very difficult to skate to another organist. Since my Mother is the only one who sounds similiar to him, she has agreed to play 2 Saturdays a month. I can vouch for all the skaters, that everyone LOVES when she plays!

Anyway, her birthday is coming up on the 18th of this month, and me and my sister decided to suprise her with a party at the rink this past Saturday night. We invited as many friends and family as we could, and we also made her favorite desserts. We had carrot cake, cheesecake, strawberry cupcakes, shoofly pie and chocolate cake. We also made fruit salad for those who care about their figures (me, not so much)! She starts playing the organ at 7:30, and she comes down for a break around 9. We had all the food set up in the hallway, so when she came down, she saw everything! She was SO suprised! Almost everyone in the rink sang Happy Birthday to her!

I must give credit to my AWESOME brother-in-law for decorating the cake and the cupcakes, although my sister did help too with the cupcakes! The roller skate cake was a carrot cake that I had made, and I wasn't sure how to decorate it. I found a template on the computer, and Al drew it just by looking at it! We used Oreo cookies for the wheels, the yellow icing out of the Oreo for the stopper and red shoestring licorice for the laces! He did a great job! Move over Cake Boss!

The rest of the night was spent roller skating (of course) and hanging out with family and friends that we haven't seen in awhile! It was a great night, and I'm so glad that we could suprise her! So, if you ever get a hankering to come roller skating, visit the Mt. Gretna Roller Rink! We'll see you there!