Saturday, January 5, 2008

Christmas Vacation Update



Well, I'm finally getting back into a schedule. Homeschool starts again on Monday. I have so enjoyed the Christmas vacation! The week before Christmas was rather crazy at our house. My husband is working on his MBA and was pretty much unavailable for Christmas preparations, so it all fell to me. I was rather behind on the week before Christmas, so that's why you didn't hear much from me. But....as is his tradition, he was able to take a full TWO WEEKS off! That's also why you didn't hear much from me! But, alas, all good things must come to an end, and he's working on his MBA classes now, the kids are down for naps/rest time, and I'm catching up on online work, cleaning up lunch, preparing a Sunday School lesson and starting dinner!

We were able to spend 1 week in Michigan over the holidays and we had a rather wonderful surprise. My brother, who is a member of a specialized unit in the Army, surprised us all for Christmas! My dad was the only one in on it, and it was quite the surprise for the rest of us.

I'll give you a short synopsis. I had asked my dad over coffee if he thought it would be possible for my brother to surprise us. He said he doubted it. (Apparently lying, when keeping a secret, is not a problem for him!) He then received a cell phone call (we later learned it was from my brother) and told us that his work was having some computer problems! My sister and I went shopping later, and everyone else was doing their own thing -- my dad was playing with my children, my brother-in-law and husband were on their computers and my mom was cooking. My brother just walked in the house, past my husband and brother-in-law (who never noticed him) and joined my dad in playing with the kids! Finally, when nobody noticed that he was there, they sent my daughter, Energizer Bunny (EB), into the kitchen to tell Grandma that Uncle Blake was here. Grandma and EB argued until EB stomped her foot and said, "Will you just come see?" Grandma replied with a huff, "Alright, I will!" Needless to say, she was a bit surprised!

Then they sent Reader Rabbit (RR) in to tell the men that he was here. The same thing happened until Grandma said, "Come see for yourself." Then they called me and my sister to tell us to get back for dinner. So we rushed home.

When we arrived, my mom said that we needed to go down to the basement to discuss a gift. (This was actually true. We did need to discuss this gift.) It was a set up though to surprise us. Here's the video of the result, courtesy of my brother-in-law. For those of you who don't know what I look like, I'm the vocal one. In my sister's defense, she saw my brother first, but he hushed her with his finger, so she wasn't able to be vocal. She probably would have been too.

It was a wonderful surprise and made Christmas so much happier as we knew that he was home, safe and sound, from his 4th tour of duty. We are so thankful to the Lord for His protection.

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