Surprise!

Okay, so here’s a surprise that I’ve been dying to share that’s been in the development for the past couple of weeks. I had talked to Bob’s daugher-in-law, Sherelle about having them come to the wedding as a surprise to Bob. Ryan (Bob’s son) has a thesis due for his masters, so they weren’t sure they would make it, but I thought maybe they could just fly out for the day. They talked about it and decided to fly out Friday and we’d all keep it as a surprise for Bob. Another added benefit of them coming was that we would have a flower girl and ring bearer at the wedding as they have two adorable children. They booked the tickets and a little later, Bob’s daughter, Vanessa, called Bob to let him know that she was going to be to come as she had been able to change her work schedule. He was so excited that Vanessa was coming, but still didn’t know that Ryan and family were coming.

Okay, now with four extra people coming, I had extra work to do…flower girl and ring bearer outfits to buy, cots/sleeping bags for the grandkids to sleep in, toys (don’t have many here!), food, etc…all the while making sure I didn’t say anything to Bob. In every conversation, I almost let something slip, but thankfully would stop myself. Bob knew I had lots to do (he didn’t know the half of it!!!), so he helped out by contacting reception and photographers with last minute instructions. But each correspondence he did, I had to followup letting them know we’d have four extra people, extra photos wanted, etc, but asking them to keep it a surprise.

Ryan, Sherelle, Shayne and Rylie were supposed to arrive around 9:30 last night. Their plane was delayed, they had some delays at the rental car place, then the weather was bad in the pass, so they ended up staying in the valley and driving up today. The rest of us were all at church when they arrived. Ryan was in the family room as Bob entered the room and said, “Hey dad”. When Bob saw him, he hugged him and teared up. It was so worth keeping the surprise. A few minutes later, he learned that the rest of the family was here. It’s so great having his whole family here. He is so touched and happy, I love the contented look on his face below…this was after we’d had a good lunch with about 18 family members of friends of haystacks and ice cream sundaes.