Surprise success

I'm back!

That's right, I was away this weekend. I couldn't tell any of you about it ahead of time, because Garrett and I flew out to Vancouver to surprise my mom for her 50th birthday! My mom regularly reads my blog, so I didn't want her to catch a whiff of what was going on.

On Friday, Garrett and I hopped on an airplane and boogied out to the West Coast. My brother-in-law's parents, Alan and Joan, graciously put us up for Friday night so that we could surprise mom on her birthday the next day. We had a nice relaxing evening with them, and watched a new show called 'Men in Trees'. It was good, I recommend checking it out if you have the time.

On Saturday morning, Alan and Joan drove us down to my parent's house around 8am. As we were driving down, I called my mom to wish her a happy birthday, pretending that I was in Edmonton all the while. She asked me how the weather was in Edmonton - I told her it was cold, we got more snow, same as usual lately. As I talked to her on the phone, I walked in the door, and the look on her face was priceless! At first, she was confused, then shocked, followed by emotional! We hugged, we laughed, we cried. It was great! Surprise number one completed.

The next step in the day was the arrival of my sister and brother-in-law from England! Amanda and Ray had flown in Friday afternoon as well, but spent the night with friend's in Vancouver. They were scheduled to arrive shortly after Garrett and I, in order to reduce the shock to my mom to smaller portions. Of course, the arrival of Amanda and Ray was a huge surprise for her! They flew half-way around the globe for her birthday! There was an emotional reunion after that, while we all hugged and laughed and got over the shock. After all, I hadn't seen Amanda and Ray since Christmas last year myself!

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing and visiting, catching up and having fun. We all went to the Remembrance Day ceremony on Saturday, and later had dinner with friends and family at a great Greek restaurant. The next day, the immediate family had a session with a photographer, to take some family portraits that were long overdue.

It was a great weekend and all the plans went off without a hitch. AND I'm pretty sure my mom likes my gift best - I got her the DVDs of Miami Vice Season 1 and 2.