Best. Surprise. Ever.

Hello blog world!  That pesky little thing called life has gotten in the way again the last two weeks which would explain my absence from this space. Lots of travel (to the beach) and lots of work have kept me going crazy. But since I was living life, that means I have lots to share with you all!

Let's start with the Best. Surprise. Ever. 

The weekend before July 4, we surprised my mom in the best way possible. I mean it seriously was the best thing we have ever done for her!  Let me give you some back story to why this was the best surprise ever. 

When my mom was at Milligan (that's where I also went to college) she had this best friend, Denise. They were roommates and best friends all throughout college. And then they graduated and mom went to law school and Denise got married. Denise stayed in Tennessee and mom eventually moved to Florida. In the thirty years since, they saw each other off and on but it had been at least 15 years since they last saw each other. 

A couple years back they reconnected via Facebook with each other as well as us kids got to know her via that as well. You could tell even just from Facebook that this woman and my mom were like twins separated at birth from one another. They think the same things. Laugh at the same jokes. And just have so much fun with one another. 

Mom has talked for years about getting together with Denise but never made it happen. So Mattie and Denise got to taking and planning for her to come to Florida and surprise mom. After securing a date with dad and Dave/dan (her husband) it was set for both Denise and Dave to come!

Mattie told all of us kids we HAD to go to the beach house that weekend. Mom knew something was up but had no clue how awesome. She thought Mattie had planned for a photographer to come and take our family picture for Christmas cards. Yeah right mom. 

So we had the plan set. Mattie met Denise at the wine store (where we would surprise mom) and hid her in the back when dad, Bryce, Katie and I brought mom in. It was a wine tasting night so mom had no clue anything was about to happen. 

Mondher (the store owner) asked my mom to come greet his special guest so that she could make her feel welcomed that night. Little did mom know, the special guest was Denise. He opened the door to the back and asked her to come out and she and mom saw each other. 

Denise cried. Mom cried. I cried. Everybody cried. They hugged and mom kept saying she knew it. (She had guessed earlier about Denise coming but changed her mind). It was an absolutely priceless moment to see mom reunited with Denise. 

The rest if the weekend was spent with late night talks. Talks on the beach. Boat rides. And just plain fun for all. It really was one of the best weekend. I came to know and love Denise even more and cannot wait for her to come back. In fact Denise (I know your reading this) yall should just move here!

So I would say Mattie mostly, but all of us kids are pretty awesome for coming and surprising my mom. She says she had the best time and I know she did because she kept begging Denise to stay longer. If only she could have! We love you Denise and Dave so please come back soon!