I don't know about you, but sometimes as a parent I can get pretty discouraged. I guess I forget, and sometimes expect perfection out of myself, and my kids... But, every-once-in-a-blue-moon, my kids do something that just blow me away.
This weekend, on my husband's and my 21st wedding anniversary, that very thing happened: Our daughters blew. us. away.
They had been planning for a whole month to pull off a surprise dinner and evening for us.
And I will NEVER forget it. It was amazing.
Rebecca had asked us early in the week to save Friday night for a family night. At that point, I figured they had something up their sleeves, but I didn't let on. All afternoon on Friday, Rebecca and Sara Beth were running around and being secretive. Finally, at 5:00, Rebecca called our office, and asked Dave and me to dress casually, and be ready in 15 minutes.
She picked us up in a golf cart, and drove us to a secret location at our summer camp.
She dropped us off at the back side of our golf course driving range, where we saw little signs, leading up to the driving range.
Each of the signs had little messages about our family--our honeymoon location, our birthdays, and "Happy Anniversary" messages.
How sweet that both girls had dressed up for the occasion! AND they wore make-up (of course!)
Sara Beth led us through the path, and actually LET me take her picture at each sign! Notice that each sign is taped to an arrow, pushed into the ground.
Seeing how excited and proud our daughters were made the surprise 1,000 times even sweeter.
I have NEVER been more proud of our girls than I was in this moment.
And here we are at the end of our sign trail. 21 years has been a long, and not always easy journey, but I think I'll stick with this guy. I wouldn't want to travel this path with anyone else!
Waiting at the end of the sign trail was a little table--all set with dishes, glasses, and even candles from home. Seriously--have you ever seen anything SO THOUGHTFUL?!!
(I was especially impressed that Sara Beth set the table perfectly correct--which she said she learned at her etiquette class earlier this summer! Score!)
I don't know if you can tell how bright these pictures are, but I should tell you that Friday, the temperature was in the 100s. Our sweet girls were POURING in sweat from all their running around and setting up. (It was so hot that I had to take off my dangly metal earrings, because they were burning my neck.) We all were pretty hot sitting here, but it sure was a pretty view there on the golf course.
The girls even served our meal on silver platters! Their grins and their excitement just melted this mama's heart.
They served fresh fruit and bread for appetizers, spaghetti with marinara for the main course, and chocolate chip cookies and milk afterwards in our (air conditioned!!) cabin.
This anniversary is one that I will never ever forget. I will still be treasuring the memories of that evening, and the sheer thoughtfulness of our daughters, when I am old and grey.
What's your most recent happy surprise?
