Happy Birthday, Bubba! {Surprise!}

My sweet grandmother celebrated a birthday last week and she and my mama planned for her to enjoy a long weekend at the Lake House. They were hoping to check out the Cherokee territory that's about an hour from mom's house and check a few other things off Bubba's Tennessee bucket list.  We loved sending Bubba a video greeting on her birthday, but we sure missed seeing her.

As mom started posting pictures of their adventures together, it was great to see my grandmother and her daughter having a great time together.  But, it also made me realize that my sweet Bub isn't going to be here forever.  I have countless precious memories of my grandmother and feel overwhelmingly blessed that I'm in my early thirties (ack!) and still have the opportunity to see my grandmother on this side of Heaven.  So, you know what?  That's what we went and did. 

Sam called late Friday afternoon to tell me that he had to work all weekend, so as I was driving home from work in Martinsville, I decided the girls and I would just make the 3.5 hour drive that night and surprise them all.  I got home at 5:15, threw some clothes in a bag, packed up the girls, and we were on the road by 6 p.m.

We had to make a pit stop or two (have I told you lately how much I love traveling with Willa?), so I took that opportunity to text back and forth with Mom so that she wouldn't have a clue.  I even threw in a picture of Gabby sleeping on a chair in our living room that I took the night before to be sure she would think nothing was out of the ordinary.

As we pulled up to Mom and Butch's house, I cut off the lights and quietly got the girls out of the car.  I have a key to the lake house, but now that they often have a few other security measures that may make sneaking up on them tough.  But, we managed to walk up to the front door, and saw them inside at the kitchen table finishing up a game of cards.  I slowly put my key to the Lake House into the deadbolt, and turned slightly.  Then two little girls about to pee their pants popped the door open to scream, "Surprise!!"

Here is where I wish I had another video.  Mom had her back to the door, so she was a seamless progression of terror, shock, and then total elation.  It was hilarious.  I have played that "clip" in my mind a thousand times since then, each one bringing a smile to my face.  Even if we had to pack back up in the car and head back to Roanoke, that thirty seconds would have made the trip worth it. 

Thankfully for my sanity, we didn't have to do that, but instead had two enjoyable days to spend together.  The girls got to make pancakes with their MarMar and Bubba, play with Mickey, watch ballgames, and make memories with some of my favorite people on this earth.  

It makes me so happy to see that my girls are getting the opportunity to know my grandmother.  The past few months have brought some resolutions for us on how we interact with our families.  One of those has been that we communicate openly and honestly with them, but another has been that we be intentional about spending quality time with them.  For my family that is entirely out of state, that means pulling out the calendar and setting a weekend that we are going to see each other and doing what we need to to make that happen.  For Sam's family, it has been that we don't just say "see ya around," but instead have them over for dinner or plan to meet up at local event.  It has been so good for my personal contentment.

We only get one family.  Love them well.