Surprise Weekend

My sister and her boyfriend, Julio had planned their baby shower for Saturday afternoon.  I wasn't planning on going since I knew we would be seeing them in two weeks time for our family vacation to Disneyland.  I just couldn't justify spending a whole bunch more money right before our vacation.

My sister and I

When my sister called me crying and upset the week before her shower it broke my heart.  I just felt for her because she wanted mom to be there and sort of felt like there wouldn't be much of our family there.  I was crushed and I know she was too.  

Dominic was very insistent that I fly home to CA for the baby shower while I was still not able to get past the money issue.  We spoke to a family friend and she reminded me that its not about the money....its about the memories.  From that point on, I knew she was right.  I had to go.

So I bought a plane ticket and reserved a hotel room and rental car.  I figured that if I am going to surprise my sister I might as well surprise everyone!  How fun would that be?

Me, my brother and sister.

So I flew into Sacramento on Friday evening, rented a car and drove to my hotel.  It was already very late and I was not feeling well from traveling.  I grabbed some food and and crashed for the night.  The next morning I woke up and got ready but still had to wait until 1pm for the shower to start.  I was ready to leave at 10 am and I was so anxious to get on with the day.  I couldn't wait to see the surprise unfold.

I drove to the mall to kill some time and did some shopping for our Vegas trip.  After that I drove out to the Edible Arrangements store where I had ordered an arrangement for the shower.  I picked it up and headed over to Kara's house.  As I pulled up to her house I saw my dad's truck parked on the street.  I was so happy to see that he was there.  I was hoping he would be there.  Then as I came up to the corner I saw Julio tying some balloons to the street sign and I covered my face as I turned into the court so he wouldn't see me.  I parked the car, grabbed my purse and started walking towards him.  As I approached I yelled "can I help?" to him.  He looked up and smiled as if he was trying to figure out who I was and as I got closer his jaw dropped.  That was a great feeling.  My whole body was trembling as I hugged him.  He was shocked and surprised and hardly had any words.  

I followed him to the front door and while he went inside to get Kara I stood outside.  She came to the door and opened it.  She immediately started to cry as did I while we hugged.  It was really great.  After we hugged for a bit Kara asked if dad knew I was coming.  I said no and just as he was coming into the house from the backyard we were walking right towards him.  He hugged me so tight and was really happy to see me.  I felt very loved in that moment.  Dad helped me bring in the HUGE fruit arrangement and as we walked to the car he said "when I was taking my shower this morning I just wondered if you might show up".  

As the day went on I was able to surprise our Aunts, and lots of family friends.  It was like the gift that keeps giving.  I really had a great time and I was happy that I could be there for Kara and Julio.

The baby shower was beautiful, very well done by Kara's closest friends.  They got lots of great gifts and are so loved.

Whirlwind!

We have had a very busy week but its been so great to have Dominic home.  He's been very helpful with the boys while still learning all the new things about the boys and our routine.  It has been so nice for me to have help getting out of the house.  I used to make 2-3 trips to the car before we could actually leave.  Now, we are out the door all together.  That is nice!

We have done lots of shopping lately.  Dominic wore his tennis shoes out from walking in the sand so much over there.  We got him some new shoes and the boys too.  Dominic and I took the boys to daycare on Thursday so that he and I could spend some time together.  I took him for his first pedicure.  His feet were a mess from being in boots or tennis shoes all the time.  He said that the pedicure tickled :)  We had lunch together and went to see a movie.  It was a really nice day.  We also took the boys bowling one day.  That was fun!

On Wednesday we went to the squadrons welcome home bbq on base.  The food was catered and it was AWESOME bbq.  They served brisket, sausages, bbq pork, buns for sandwiches, coleslaw and potato salad.  It was the best bbq I've had in a great while...Dominic too :)

We got Mason some cowboy boots.  They match the boys that they got at Christmas time.  Mason loves them!  He ran all around the house in his diaper and boots the other night.  It was so fun to watch him.

Dominic installed our new dishwasher yesterday.  Oh man!  I have been WAITING to have a dishwasher back.  I have been hand-washing dishes for close to 3 months now.
Yesterday we went over to John and Laurie's house.  The boys swam and had a blast.  Mason LOVED the water.  He's a little fishy without gills.  We put arm floaters on him and he was so comfortable in the water.  He absolutely LOVED the pool.
When it got dark we were able to sit in their backyard and watch some fireworks from the country club.  It was amazing!  We had the perfect view and didn't have to fight a crowd or find a place to park.  Laurie and John made some homemade ice cream and we sat and talked.  They are such great people and we really enjoy hanging out with them.

We didn't do much today.  We did some more shopping then we came home and made some dinner.  We had some steak, bacon wrapped scallops, zucchini and squash and fresh corn.  It was a lot of food and we came to the realization that we just don't eat like we used to.  None of us eat nearly as much as we did 6 months ago.  Dominic lost fat and gained quite a lot of muscle, I lost 53 lbs (so far), Christian doesn't eat as much because of his medicine and Ayden has his on and off days.  We need to start cooking less :)

I hope everyone had a nice 4th!