I got the biggest surprise of my life this past weekend! Seriously. I have only had one surprise birthday party, when I was 16, and I had a tiny suspicion about that one. But this completely blew me away!
Jed left a week ago Monday for a research trip to Utah, and I was to be home alone with the boys for 10 days--without a car. It's not like I drive the car all that much anyway, and I have my trusty bike which can take us nearly everywhere important we need to go. But there is something about knowing you don't have a car that makes you a bit stir crazy. I was feeling it big-time when I was only Wednesday into his trip. That night I complained as such to my sister Michelle who lives in Utah.
Well, the next night we got a knock at the door. Isaac ran to answer it, and I was a few steps behind him. He stood with the door ajar, a screen door between him and a very curious creature indeed. As I approached, I noted that it looked an awful lot like my niece Avery, but then the common-sense part of brain snapped me back to reality--that she lives over 500 miles away in a different state. But as I came closer and pushed the screen door open, a knowing part recognized that--oh my gosh--it WAS AVERY!!! Then my sisters Michelle and Rachel hopped out from behind a tree and the house, hollering their arrival.
I freaked! I was in total shock. After hearing of my loneliness the night before, Michelle made an impetuous decision to drive out the next day and spend the whole weekend, and she invited Rachel along for the adventure. I screamed so loud as I embraced my sisters, the neighbors probably wondered. I was SO excited!
We had a hilarious time this weekend, but of course it went WAY too fast. We stayed up super late with sister chit-chat, talking about everything from politics to parenting to growing up in our crazy 10-kids family. Michelle has recently returned from a trip to Malaysia to visit my parents on their mission, so we enjoyed looking at pictures and hearing about her adventures. We shopped, rented movies, gorged on popcorn and chocolate, visited the Denver Aquarium with the kids, made jewelry, and dropped to the floor laughing over past SNL clips, particularly one called "The Lawrence Welk Show." It's about sisters, so it was particularly fitting. Michelle and Rachel were even good sports to sing a special musical number for the lesson I taught in Relief Society. Rachel's birthday was the day they left so we sang to her happy 23rd and ate cake and pumpkin ice cream. Avery and Lincoln and Isaac had a blast together, too. Our only regret was not having a camera to document the weekend, but at least we know we will never forget this.
Knowing that my sisters care that much for me to do that, well, it made me pretty darned happy and thankful for them. They rock! Their visit made me even more excited for my sister Lisa's and her kids Suzy and Ani's trip out in January, and the possibility of more visits from family next month. We LOVE having visitors! All are welcome.
Here are a few pics of us over the years:
Michelle, me Rachel
Gotta love the mullets! Yep, that's me top right.
Rach and Lincoln
Avery and Lincoln
Michelle, me, Lisa, and Rach
