I Probably Should Have Said, "Happy New Year"

After several days of dealing with the constant care of stomach-sick children, my mom presented an idea that sounded pretty wonderful:

Instead of having Dallin drive all the way up to Idaho after driving all the way home from Mexico, she suggested that she and my dad drive us home to surprise him.

I jumped at that chance, for sure!  The chance to have a couple of days to get unpacked and ready to jump back into life after a very intense season.

And it was oh, so wonderful to pull into our driveway.  The trip itself was the usual 4 hour drive with 5 kids.  Except that my parents treated us to In-and-Out burgers for dinner.  Love that place.

But we got home in time to unpack all but one of the big Christmas bins of presents and Things we brought.  Everybody's suitcases were unpacked and laundry was started.

It was pretty late when the kids went to bed, but we knew there were still a couple of hours before Dallin and the boys would get home.  I was pretty excited about the surprise, but I was so exhausted from all of the packing, loading, unloading, and unpacking in one day.  I knew it would be more of a surprise if my mom's car wasn't in the driveway, but with so much snow on the roads there weren't a lot of choices.  We wondered if it was worth it.

We started talking on the couches.  Mom dozed off while I read some Christmas stories.  When she woke up, it was 1:00-ish.  She got her coat on and went out and moved the car into the cul-de-sac across the road.  I was glad she did!  We got into a really great conversation that passed the next hour and some pretty quickly.  Suddenly she said, "I think they're here!"

We jumped up and tried to figure out how to unveil the surprise.  We had already turned out all of the lights except the Christmas tree which they had left on.  I decided to be in the kitchen so I would see them right away. 

I sat at the computer desk next to the door to our kitchen from the garage.  My heart was surely pumping as I heard the garage door open.  Nathan and Brandon walked right past me in the dark kitchen.  They looked at me, horrified, when I whispered, "Shhhh....keep going." And pointed them on their way.  I didn't want their stares to give it away to Dallin.  They obeyed, their own hearts pumping then.

I heard the garage door again.  Moments later he was before me, walking past without a glance.  "Merry Christmas," was all I said, and boy what a shout he gave!  It was a bit animal-like.  Primal, for sure.
 He forgave me because he liked the present so very much.

The next day was extremely delightful because we got to sleep in a little, wake up to my parents being there, get some more unpacking and cleaning done, listen to Mexico stories, and just enjoy being all together again. 

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for a Merry Christmas AND a Happy New Year!