If you ever want to tell God a joke....tell Him your plans

No More Secrets

My parents and sister Mandi came in town last weekend and we FINALLY told them about our big surprise. In order to get them up here during the parade weekend, we told them that we had a surprise for them 'involving the kids'. They had no idea what we were up to, but they were curious, so they came. We also told them that, wow, they were going to be coming during the Parade of Homes and that the builder we met a year ago was willing to give us free tickets so we could see his work. They love parades, so they were all for that.

They came into town Friday night. After chatting for awhile they asked us when we were going to tell/show them the surprise. We told them it would happen sometime the next day, that'd we spring it on them at some point. On Saturday we made them first endure a hike/river walk (along a dried up river bed - lame). Then we 'decided' to see 'just one' parade home before lunch because we needed to get those free tickets from the builder. We drove them to our home for the tour. As soon as we got out of the car, they noticed Phil Crenshaw's Sound Solutions truck (he was there for the parade). They were shocked! My mom just knew that it was his truck and was excited to go inside to see if he was there. What a small world! Well, sure enough, Phil was there. Luckily, though, he and Nate were both SUPERB fibbers. They were completely in on our charade (along with Jennifer and everyone else in the house). My parents and Mando went through the entire home and chatted with both Nate (who gave us a tour) and Phil for quite awhile without suspecting a thing. (My mom did notice things, like the sewing machine that was just like mine. Nate was quick on his toes though, and explained that it was his wife's. Good job Nate.)

As we left the house, I asked them if they wanted to see the surprise before lunch, provided Maliya could handle it (she had been freaking out for the past 15 minutes). They thought I was a little off (no way could Maliya handle it) but said 'sure' anyway. That's when I told them to turn around (per the video above). As you can imagine, they were quite surprised, just like Nick's parents were. They couldn't believe it, which is exactly what we were going for, and they were really glad they hadn't said anything bad about the house, ha ha.

Nick and I waited for almost a year to let this surprise out. We were super excited to do so and were hoping for a fun reaction. Neither of our families disappointed us. Seriously, you guys were great. Thank you for making it so fun for us, and for being patient as we filled you in on the details. I'm sure we talked your ears off (and then some). It's been a fun adventure, but it's been even better being able to share it. We love you and can't wait to have you back!

Phil's Truck