We spent some time researching phones, as we wanted her to have a decent phone, but we don't have texting on our phones, so no texting, no internet, etc. We finally found the one that we wanted to get her, only to have another one start to look interesting. We finally decided on that one, as it had a slider, etc., and it would be a "cool" phone for a teenager to have.
When we called to order it, of course, they were out of the phone, so we did some quick deciding again via a three-way call with the service representative and finally came to rest on the Pantech Link. We also decided that it wouldn't be reasonable to have a teenager's phone with no texting capabilities, so we changed our data plans and added unlimited texting for all three phones, which worked out to the same price that we are paying now.
We ordered the phone.....and then came the fun part.
We bought an 8G memory card, as Amanda has been saving her money to buy an iPod, and we loaded it with several of her favorite songs. (So, now she can spend her money on earphones, as the audio connection on this phone is an oddball one.)
Lora created two ringtones, on Harry Potter and one Star Wars. A few days before Amanda's birthday we activated the phone and then tested them out to make sure you would be able to hear them from inside the box. It took a few tweaks, but we got it to work!
A few days before, Lora texted a ton of people and asked them to send Amanda a text at 8:30pm wishing her a Happy Birthday. We were afraid that if we took Amanda's presents to the restaurant (we always let them pick a restaurant to have their birthday dinner) she would not be able to hear the phone ringing, so we figured we would be able to be back from the restaurant by 8:30pm. We also figured her reaction would be too exuberant for a restaurant and there would be a mess of plates on the table.
Amanda chose Sizzler for her birthday dinner, as she wanted to get the shrimp plate. Gramma Carol joined us. We ended up leaving the restaurant much later than we expected.
Both Kevin and Lora had been very careful to erase or hide everything off their phones and off Lora's computer so that there would be no trace for Amanda to find. On the way home from the restaurant, Amanda asked if she could play on Lora's phone. We were five minutes from home and Lora knew there was nothing on the phone that might give them away, so she said yes. The FIRST THING Amanda said when she got Lora's phone in her hand was, "Why does it say that your phone called me?" Lora just about had a heartattack!! What?! She played it cool and pretended she had no idea what it could be (and in reality she didn't) as Amanda kept going on about how could Lora call her "future" phone if she didn't have one.
SOMEHOW Lora's purse had called Amanda's phone while we were all at the restaurant!! Talk about freakish timing! Arg!!
We got home at about 8:40pm, and we were getting Amanda's presents together and there was a soft chirping chime one of the boxes. The girls kept asking what the noise was and Kevin told them it was probably one of our cameras. Then Kevin called the phone and Harry Potter music started playing. You should have seen the looks on their faces!!
Amanda opened her gifts, and periodically the box would chime, or Harry Potter music would play. Each time the girls would stop and say, "there is the Harry Potter music again! I DID hear it!"
She opened the box from us last. As she unwrapped it, Lora called her phone and Star Wars music started playing. THAT really got her wondering.
She opened the box and was absolutely stunned. Like she just sat there with her mouth open, staring at the box! She said "I'm happy!"
There were already 12 messages on her phone and she began to read each birthday wish. As she did, the phone kept chiming as more and more messages came in. It was WONDERFUL!! Perfect!!
She sat and texted thank yous to everyone and texted back and forth with her cousins, and tried to figure out things on her new phone.
There are a big list of rules that go with the phone, but she was so happy to actually have one, and Kevin and Lora are very grateful that they will be able to get a hold of her when they need to!
Here is the video of her opening the box. It's several minutes long.
Thank you so much to everyone for texting her and making this an amazingly fun birthday gift for her!!
