First Weekend of October

Well this weekend was busy! We spent Friday night at home, but our Saturday was a full day. We met my dad and aunt at my brother and sister-in-law's house at 8am. We all piled into one vehicle and went to eat a quick breakfast buffet at Rick's Iron Skillet. (This happens to be the exact location that Daniel took my parents to ask for their "permission" to marry me August 2006) It was a great breakfast. We all got back in the car and started heading for Mena. We were on our way to go celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday. It was a surprise party, so she had no idea anyone was going to be in town. Well, we also decided to have a surprise baby shower for my other sister-in-law right after the birthday party. Seeing that my grandmother had no idea about her birthday party, she also had no idea about the baby shower. So we had to assign someone to buy a baby gift for her to give to my sister-in-law...yeah the whole day was as crazy as that explanation.

Of course we had to stop at Wal Mart on the way there, and we ended up arriving to the party location 15 minutes before she was going to be there! The rest of the day was craziness. There were kids running around, family trying to catch up, food to prepare, and while all of this was going on my grandmother arrived and walked in! One person said "...oh! surprise!!" and everyone else ran to the door......needless to say it wasn't much of a surprising welcome, but she was still very surprised and glad to see everyone. She got some great gifts and had a great time. After she had opened her presents and everything seemed to get quiet, we announced "Well, there is another surprise. We have another party!.......for Rebekah!" Everyone clapped, she was TOTALLY surprised, and all the kids in the family came out with all the gifts. It was very cool. She got lots of great things and several things that she really needed.

The day was kind of chaotic, but it was worth it. Everyone had a good time and it was great to see the whole family again. The trip back was eventful as well! Instead of just one vehicle filled with 6 people, we had 3 vehicles filled with 12 1/2 people! (1/2 for the baby boy who is due in 3 weeks. =)

Daniel and I ended up staying at my parents house that night. We got to spend Saturday and Sunday with my aunt who left to go back to West Virginia this afternoon. The last time I saw her, I was about 13. While she was down, my dad helped her learn to email and she now has a gmail account!

The moral of the story is that I love my family, no matter how crazy it can be when we're all together. Family is so important, and I am very blessed to have a great family in my life.