Surprise!!!

I've never been able to pull off any kind of a good surprise.  Well, we did once surprise our kids with a Disney trip, but I was not thrilled with the "duh, we kinda already had a clue" looks that we got.  Recording that was a total fail 😂.  

But this month my parents celebrate 48 years of marriage, and yes I know that 50 is when you are supposed to go all out, but we are never guaranteed tomorrow.  Why wait? Celebrate the people in your life while you have them; they won't always be there.   

But it was great. The kids and I flew in and stayed with my brothers family on Friday, then my brother asked my parents to come babysit on Saturday. We invited their best friends of more than 40 years to come celebrate with us, and we all hid when they walked in the door.  There was confusion that slowly morphed into realization that then led to the best kind of ugly crying I've ever been a part of.  

A lot of people have long marriages.  But I have to say that my parents marriage is the strongest one I've ever seen.  They are truly best friends.  They are all each other needs, and I honestly have never seen another couple like each other as friends and love each other so completely.  It absolutely set the standard for what a marriage should be, and I thank God every day for their example...and for the fact that God blessed me with the same type of marriage.  So anyway, we are here at the farm for the week spending time with family.  I miss Norman terribly, but this trip was absolutely worth it.

Dad is going to be the brave soul who takes Eli out for his second driving lesson tomorrow.  He did take him out once over Christmas break, and given the fact they ended up in the ditch, I think my dad has the best demeanor and a heck of a lot more patience to teach him how to drive.  

I honestly don't even remember "learning" like with lessons.  I remember (before all the laws and things) sitting on my parents lap learning to steer the wheel.  Then I'm sure I had to have learned to drive the car, but I absolutely remember driving a small gray tractor, so I'm assuming I had mastered the car. Drivers Ed was required, but all country kids are driving by 14, so my instructor had us all running errands for him 😂. Sometimes I really miss small towns.  Like now.  No way would I teach my child to drive in a suburb of DC.  Not a chance.  

So that about sums up what we have been doing.  We are also having a ball planning a huge Disney trip with 10 family members and one close friend who has become family to us.  I think planning is all part of the fun, but I can't wait until we get to go.  

I am resolved to get to work unpacking the house when we get back home.  I am ready to be rid of the boxes! As long as my back doesn't completely go out, I am ready to get it done.  

To all our faithful blog readers, thank you for sticking with us over the years!  We appreciate you following along on our crazy journey.  I will leave you with a pic of us on our flight out here.  What a special memory for us to have for the rest of our lives.