is there anything better than good friends!?

I have been waiting to have pictures to post this blog ... but I just can't wait any longer!!
April 19th was Thursday, the day we eat dinner at my in-laws. While I was helping get dinner on the table I noticed "watch Andy's kids 3:30" written on the 20th ... I went upstairs and asked Andy what he was planning. The sneaky look on his face gave him away! He said something to the effect of 'dang-that-calendar-and-my-mom-for-writing-everything-down!!' and then told me that I couldn't ask any questions. The rest of the day I speculated about what he was up to ...
Friday morning my curiosity was overflowing when he told me to get stuff ready for Easton and myself for the weekend. "Do I need to pack stuff for you too?"
"No Questions!"
"OK but do you need stuff?"
"Sure that would be great ..."
Then he said to be at his mom's house at 3:30.
I could not stop myself from thinking about the weekend and how romantic it was that he was surprising me! I dressed, fed, and drove the girls to school ... floated around the house getting things ready and reflecting on how wonderful he is. Alicia called and we chatted (I didn't tell her that I had this surprise coming ... I didn't want to gloat) then Nicki called and wanted to make plans for the weekend ... I spilled to her and she wondered if Trav knew the secret ... I told her to call Andy and find out more details! She said that she wouldn't ruin the surprise! I told her that I'd call her when I found out what he had planned!
I collected the girls from school, fed them lunch ... quiet time was a wash ... I was too excited! Finally it was 3:00, I threw my stuff in the van and headed to Grandma Shaw's house. When we arrived the girls and Ammon jumped out ... Marie asked where we were going ... (she obviously hadn't been filled in either. ) Andy came out of the house with a blindfold, he told his mom he'd be in touch, we got in the car, he blindfolded me. He told me to relax and enjoy the ride - 'it's gonna be kinda long, do you want to lay down in the back?'
We were off ... I held his hand and we laughed about what other people must be thinking seeing me blindfolded and about talking to Nicki, he asked me if I'd talked to Jenny lately and what I heard from Tiff - just general small talk. My phone rang, Andy said it was Alicia and I could call her back later.
I'm pretty good with directions and thought that I knew where we were going ... south on I-5 then onto south 405 ... then south 267? I was lost when we got off the freeway. We drove for a while and then he stopped the car, and helped me out. He guided me up a few steps and I recognized the smell ... it smelled like ... I know that smell ... he started to take off the blindfold and SURPRISE!! We were in Nicki's kitchen (I knew I recognized that scent). From behind the island popped Alicia, Nicki, Tiffany and JENNY!!
This was NOT a romantic getaway with the BestHusbandOfTheYear. The girls had planned a weekend getaway for my birthday!! (They had enlisted Andy's help and he was obliged to since he hadn't planned anything!)
We had "Wright House Melting Pot" for dinner and talked and ate and laughed and watched 'The Bachelor' and talked and laughed and talked and ate! Saturday we shopped and talked and ate and laughed some more!
I was so happy to see Jenny - she flew in from Idaho!! Tiff drove 4 hours from Long Beach!! Alicia and Nicki planned the whole thing and kept it from me for more than 2 months! They are SO sneaky!! I told Alicia 'truth be told, I was getting a little jealous of all the time you were spending with Nicki ...' They admitted to role playing what to say if I called to tell them ... and when I didn't tell Alicia she was worried the plan was falling apart and practically forced Nicki to call me! (I guess Nicki's no good at lying and was nervous to call me!) I have NEVER been so surprised! It was the BEST!!


I almost forgot to mention the Man/SuperDad that made it all possible ... Trav. He volunteered to take his little brood of boys on a mini 'FathersAndSons' overnight camping trip to free up the house for our gaggle of girls retreat! ThankYouThankYouThankYou