Surprise Visit!

Early last Wednesday morning (4/24), I did something I never do. I got up right after Jerry left for work and got moving. I showered and dressed.  Then at 6:20 I went in to wake up the boys. After two months of keeping it a secret, I told them that Roz was flying in TODAY as a surprise for Daddy's birthday!

We had a quick breakfast of donuts on the back patio. Well, everyone except Hayden who, unfortunately, wasn't feeling well.

Then we all piled in the van and headed across town to the airport. Not wanting to navigate freeways and morning traffic all by myself in Phoenix, we stopped on the way to get Jerry's brother Joe. He drove us the rest of the way.

Pick up was successful and Roz was here by mid-morning. (She had left her house around 3am!) Then came the hardest part... waiting to actually surprise Jerry! We spent the afternoon visiting and swimming and... waiting. I had emailed Jerry and asked that he get home right on time so we could run to Costco and get stuff for the party. He was right on time. He walked in the door and Roz was sitting at the kitchen table. After a big hug (and a few happy tears), we explained we wouldn't be going to Costco after all! :)

Roz had a short, yet productive, visit. She visited with her ten feathered sisters...

We put her to work on Friday getting yard work done for the big party. Jerry even let her drive his new toy.

Saturday was, of course, the big party. Sunday, after cleaning up, there was time for swimming and hanging out by the pool...

and a few rounds of ladder golf...

....and some sister bonding.

Thankfully, I got this shot earlier in the afternoon, because later in the day Annabeth was NOT in the mood for photos.

 We took the usual photo of the whole family.

After dinner, it was time for irrigation and gopher hunting. I offered a $5 reward for every gopher killed so most of the kids had shovels at the ready. Hayden had a butterfly net. When I told him a live gopher wouldn't earn him $5, Jerry told me they worked out a deal. Hayden would catch the gopher and Jerry would kill it and then they'd split the reward. In the end, Jerry got three gophers and our zanjero got one and now I'm in debt!

After it got dark, we had a fire and roasted marshmallows. Twice we had to stop the fireside chat to kill gophers that were scurrying along the patio trying to get away from their irrigation flooded homes.

We let the boys stay up a little bit later than normal but we were all still a little tired from the exciting weekend. Roz had to leave early Monday morning, so the boys had to say their good-byes before bed. After a quick good-bye from me, Jerry drove Roz to the airport. And just like that, the surprise visit was over!