My sister and I both have birthdays within a week of each other in April, so we tend to celebrate together. This year, our parents came in and our other sister came down with her two girls for a family get together.
At one point, during all the very noisy bustle, it was announced that I had a birthday surprise, and had to cover my eyes for a few minutes while they brought it in.
Now, I've been campaigning hard for a new puppy, but want to wait until after summer vacations are over. When they were all talking about how heavy my present was and did they need a dolly to get it in, etc, and then there were lots of shhhh-s-ing noises, I was pretty convinced that, OH NO, they had gotten the dog early.
So when I turned and looked, I looked for a dog crate. None. A big heavy box. None. They all stood there in their "ta-da!!" poses and ... nothing. Then a voice said...
"MOM! IT'S ME!"
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz7HjhrX5m3tL9HoS9o-pdUXeCwGqol_tB2wxSQZaMlfjxgjqEOJSI28RzGZlpSMqRDkU78wK1pSO1OrI2Kw_yqoKHn5HLElEDj-1TUavjxuWmDoOIOJqcQMdbkckKqcODrouR3Q/s320/077.JPG)
Total shock.
My daughter had come up from Florida for a birthday surprise.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVBFOZfxiy1amWLRbjnf94IaPXIGmUxu0pYyr_725UgP1HoT7HSKeM2wIz9H7eD1CXlrNETWguzULCum2x8v3wESpoUZ2E287fXWPwNZ9z7_26Vc2FIVFJcXaDEC-r5Y-T-E0dPA/s320/080.JPG)
Best.
Birthday.
Surprise.
EVER.
It was a great weekend, even if it was over with too soon, with everybody going home on Sunday.
Best EVER. (Good enough that I'm willing to show the totally unflattering photos!)
:-)