Christmas Surprises

This Christmas has been wonderful! It all started the second week in December. I had been on the phone to my mom and I suddenly got REALLY homesick. Chant asked me what was wrong and I told him. Then he suggested that we could just go home. We had decided a while ago, when gas was $4.00 a gallon, to stay in Missouri for Christmas. But gas prices are down and he has a really long break from school, so we decided to go home. We wanted to surprise everyone, so we didn't tell a soul. Well, okay, one family member knew we were coming. My mom was so upset we weren't coming home that Dad bought her a plane ticket to Missouri for Christmas. He wanted to make sure we knew she was coming, so he called to tell me the dates. When he called all he said was he bought her a plane ticket for Christmas. I thought he meant she was coming for Christmas. My heart sank and I told him we were planning on coming to Idaho. It was then that he told me her ticket wasn't until the 23rd of January. Oops! So, Dad knew. But no one else did. It was SOOO hard keeping it a secret. We didn't even tell the kids until the day before we left because we didn't want them to say something on the phone that would give away our surprise.

So we left December 23 to drive to Denver. We drove straight through with just stops for gas and bathroom breaks. When we got to Chant's Aunt's and Uncle's house, we sent just the girls to the door. (We spent Christmas in Denver because Chant's Aunt Linda, Uncle Gary, and sister Kristy all live there, so his mom and other sister Jenny flew to Denver for Christmas.) Gary answered the door. It took him a minute to recognize them because he has only seen the girls once. Linda, Kristy, and Jenny were all gone so we had to do the surprise thing two more times. First Linda came home. We hid on the stairs just passed the doorway and when she came in we yelled surprise. She was shocked to see us. But she was more excited to see Kristy and Jenny's reactions. They came home about an hour later. Again we hid on the stairs when we saw them pull up. Jenny saw us first. She screamed and then just stood there from shock. Kristy heard her scream then came around the corner. She screamed and jumped in for a hug. It was great! We got them good. They didn't have a clue we were there.

The next day we got to surprise Chant's Mom. She flew in Christmas Eve at 10:30 a.m. We perched in our spot and waited. This time we got a few tears. She couldn't believe we were there. It was perfect!

We had a fabulous Christmas with Aunts, Uncles, and Gran. The girls loved playing there and Porter got plenty of hugs and loves. The girls got just what they wanted from Santa. Brinnley wanted a Barbie doll. She got a set of 6 and was thrilled. She also got a Cabbage Patch mini doll that came with a pony from her Aunt Linda. She loves it! And Gran got her Barbie Mariposa. Gran was shocked that she knew which Barbie show it was when she opened the package. She loves Mariposa. The one thing Ainsley wanted was pink shoes. She was so cute when she opened them! She was sitting in Porter's Bumbo when she opened them. She got the paper off and saw it was a shoe box. She flipped the lid open, pulled the shoes out, threw the box and was on the floor with her foot in the air all in about 10 seconds. She didn't want to take them off the whole day.

The day after Christmas was a marathon shopping day. I got some fabulous deals on clothes for the kids and winter coats for next year. It was so fun! Thanks Honey for watching the sick kids so I could be gone with the girls from 8:00 till 4:00. You're the best!

December 27 we left for Idaho. We had some horrendous winds through Wyoming and snow when we hit Idaho, but we made it safe and sound thanks to Chant's driving. When we got to my parents' house, they were gone shopping. My Aunt Jenny was home and she helped us keep a look out for them to get home. When we saw them pull up we hid in the corner in the living room. When Mom got in the house she was talking to Jenny and Jenny started walking to where we were at. Mom followed and when she got to the living room Brinn and Ainsley jumped off the couch and ran over to her. Mom was in shock. She put her hands up on her cheeks and screamed and screamed. Then she started to cry and shake. When she picked the girls up to hug them I was worried if they would be in one piece because she was squeezing so hard. I was so glad we were able to keep it a secret from her. Her reaction was worth it!

Yesterday we went to Rexburg to run some errands. Some of our best friends, Adam and Randi, live there. We called Adam at work and told him we were going to make their Christmas present but it didn't turn out so we wanted to buy pizza and have it delivered to them instead. We asked when his lunch break was. About 15 minutes before lunch time we got a couple pizzas and drove to a business close to their house. We waited and waited for Adam to drive by. When he finally did, we pulled out and followed him to his house. We pulled up behind him and when he saw us, his jaw dropped. It was funny because Chant talked to him on the phone the whole time we were driving to Rexburg about the weather in Missouri and how it was sad to be away from family, so he had no idea. When we got out of the car we said we were in the pizza delivery business now. It was awesome to see them!

Every little white lie was worth all the surprised looks and all the tears and all the screams. I am so extremely happy to be home and with family. Chant said I get a twinkle in my eye when we come home. There is a joy that comes when we are in the company of those who truly love us. This year for us Christmas was about focusing on the important things and not about gifts. And it has been one of the best Christmases we have had! Hope you all had just as wonderful a Christmas as we did!

Pictures to come when we got back to MO and have our computer.