Surprises

We were given our first Christmas gifts last night. We've been in anticipation of a surprise party put on my Dan and Amy (my brother and sister-in-law) for weeks. What could it be about? The Christmas movie marathon was already scheduled, and most of us were to be at the Christmas Eve service at church. Dan graduates with his MBA the following week after the marathon so what on earth could it be? Why would we need another get together? So we pondered this........

1. Maybe Amy was pregnant and there would be a big announcement!
2. Maybe we were actually going swimming at Adventureland


This is when Dan and Amy said to bring our swimsuits. Then they told us closer to the date to dress nice but bring a set of grubby clothes, like what you'd paint in for our activity.

3. Wait, is Dan making us redo his basement? To this idea Mom replied (in the typical all-loving all-accepting motherly response), "Well, even if we are redoing their basement, they'll get a pool table and a ping pong table and we'll have some great family times down there so it will be worth it." :) I suppose.

4. Are they moving?
5. Did Dan get a new job? No, he just did. Maybe he's moving up again?
6. Did they win the lottery?? (I really wondered this).

So, we dressed up and showed up with our sacks of grubby clothes, ready to paint the basement and hear Amy was pregnant, they were moving, Dan got a new job, and they had won the lottery.

"Merry Christmas!!!" Dan yelled as we walked in the house. It smelled great in there and it looked gorgeous as only Amy can create. "Um, hi. Merry Christmas". I said this reluctantly because I didn't actually know this was a Christmas party. I brought nothing. Crap. And I was a tad under dressed. Grumble in my mind.

Dan was obviously excited beyond all belief and I walked in to say hi to Amy and find the baby. That's my normal routine. Where's the baby? Amy was cooking at the stove, something that smelled divine, and she was even wearing a soft apron. (She's awesome like that and I love her.) The table was set elaborately. There was wine and homemade place settings. There was Christmas music playing in the background. It was a gorgeous sight to behold. So I relaxed. We hung out and chatted. They had set up babysitting for us with their neighbors next door and even ordered a pizza for the kids, so I helped Dan take them over there. Special delivery. We raise you three more kids to your two already small children. How nice of them! I was starting to feel special. As I was chatting with this neighbor, Dan and the neighbor guy had gone out to check something out outside as all men do at some point every evening. Suddenly, Dan came rushing in saying to the neighbor lady, "It's still a surprise! Have you told her?" He was laughing and out of breath. "No, of course not!" the neighbor girl said. So we thanked them and left and now I was REALLY wondering.

We sat down to the BEST dinner I have ever had and I'm not exaggerating. We had prime rib and it just melted in your mouth, and salad, and homemade rolls, and strawberries dipped in chocolate to top it all off. Amazing. But before we had started our salads, Dan and Amy uncovered their surprise.

Dan told us the meal was meant to make a memory for us. It was part of their Christmas gift to us, and since Lianna and Shawn wouldn't be with us Christmas Eve or Day this year, it seemed like the appropriate thing to do. Also, under your plate you will find an envelope. Everyone must open it at the same time. Remember, the purpose of this night is to make a memory for our family......so wait for one another.....and then open it together to find out a clue about our activity for tonight.....

So we all grabbed our envelopes and looked nervous excitedly around at the others...."Ready?" Mom said? We were ready. So we opened our envelopes. A ticket was inside!!!

TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA
Admit one
TONIGHT @ 8 pm

"Ahhhhhh!!!!! Whooohooooo!!!!"

A little background here. Our family LOVES Christmas. What's more, we LOVE Christmas music. We all but wear out our Mannheim Steamroller CD's shortly after Thanksgiving. And this year, I saw that Mannheim was coming to Des Moines. So I rallied the troops and decided we were going. But somehow, the tickets wouldn't sell to us and Mom couldn't get them reserved. It turns out that Mom really didn't even know what Dan and Amy were up to either. It just didn't work! Isn't that amazing? I would have ruined their surprise. But I didn't. Because the tickets wouldn't sell. As Lianna and I would say, this was a true Christmas miracle...like the ham left on my plate that one year shaped like a candy cane. Yep. True story.

Anyway, they had treated us to dinner. This was memorable in and of itself, but then to treat us out to one of our biggest dreams ever....there we were, ticket in hand. Surprise complete. We had an hour to finish dinner.

The concert was fabulous. There were lights and lasers, firebombs, and sparks, fantastic music, a funny narrator that no one could follow but funny just the same, and a FANTASTIC night out as family. One we will never forget, thanks to Dan and Amy, crowned the new couple of suspense. We had a blast!

I have never been capable of surprises. It was all I could do NOT to tell others what I bought them for Christmas because I couldn't contain my excitement. But lesson learned, sometimes surprises are more fun than anything else. We feel truly blessed to have a family like this and last night was a blast. Thank you Dan and Amy and H. We love you very much!