I LOVE Surprises

Let me tell you about all the surprises that happened last week.

Dan and I got to go to Kansas with Mallory and surprise Sheryl for her big 50th birthday. It was SUCH a fun surprise. She had NO idea! We got in on a Wednesday afternoon and Paul picked us up without letting Sheryl know what he was doing. We rang the doorbell and then sneaked inside the house. Sheryl went to answer the door, but no one was there. She turned around and we jumped out and yelled "Happy Birthday!" I thought she was going to fall over. She was speechless while she tried to figure out what was going on. It was awesome.

On Thursday we went to Great Bend where Dan grew up (His parents have now moved to a town about an hour away called Salina). It was so fun to meet and surprise so many people who have been like angels to us over this past year. We went with Josh to Dan's high school and met up with teachers, had lunch with the French's (both the original Mr. & Mrs. French and Chris & Allison), saw the Butlers, and I finally got to meet Gloria!

Friday was Sheryl's birthday. We suprised her with a book filled with pictures and letters from all the people that Sheryl has touched somehow. Thank you to everyone who contributed. I wish you all could have been there as she read each and every one out loud and cried through most. We did not expect to have such great, heartfelt letters. It meant so much to Sheryl.

That night was a princess-themed surprise party. Grammy, Linda, and Kerri did a great job with the party and the food was outstanding. Linda's neighbor was a big hit at the party. He gave Sheryl, Dan and I a ride in his hot rod. I must admit... I felt really cool driving around the streets of Salina in it!




One of the best parts of the weekend was that we got to see little Madelyn. When we made flight plans for the trip we weren't sure if Sara and Chris (Dan's sister) would have their baby when we were there or not. Imagine how excited we were to find out that Madelyn was born the day before we flew into Kansas! Another exciting surprise! I wish I could post all of the pictures I took of her because they are so cute! Here's just a few.

(That's a yawn, not a cry :)

It was an exhausting week, but we loved every minute of it. We are so lucky that Dan is now healthy enough to travel. He is doing great and we know we've had help from above. We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. In our prayers every night, together Dan and I thank Heavenly Father for each of you and the amazing support system we have. We love our family in Kansas!!