Mike and Erin and their two beautiful boys came in for a surprise visit last evening. Marianne's face says it all! She was in shock and could not believe she was seeing our sweet Baltimore family in her very own living room. Andrew was very sleepy and didn't join in all the action of the night. Baby Joseph, however, was ready for the party!
Kate, Luke and I were in on the surprise so we could orchestrate everything. We planned a Halloween party to cover up the surprise visit. Emmie was so excited to meet her new cousin Joseph. I love this picture. Kate is such a sweet, gorgeous aunt.
I was THRILLED to see Erin! She looks amazing after having Joseph only 3 months ago. She and Mike were so great to fly in this weekend and spend time with family before beginning their adventure in Malaysia next week.
Still in shock.....! Mare's boss at work was so great to get someone to cover for her on Saturday so she could spend all weekend with her family.
Mare adores her grandbabies. They are lucky babies to have her.
Gug and Bumps were in on the surprise too. Bumps is always so great to pick up the Mike Feathies from the airport. This time with both babies in carseats, there wasn't room for Guggie in the car. Jon faked a call from work to go and pick her up. They had to stall for 45 min. in the car in order to show up at the same time as Bumps and the Baltimore clan. Thanks for being such a good sport Guggie!
Bumps and Gug are so amazing. They love their great grandbabies! Also, Joseph was named after Bumps---his name is Gordon and baby Joseph's middle name is Gordon. I love how Joseph is smiling in this picture.
Luke and baby Joseph. Luke was going to miss our Halloween party to go fishing in Idaho. We told Mike and Erin to fill him in so he would stay. Thanks Jama and Scottie for thinking our party was cool in the first place so we could still surprise you! Next time, don't question our parties Luke! ha:)
Emmie was so excited to hold baby Joseph. It was so late but both Joseph and Emmie were wide awake and happy to be there!
Emmie was having the time of her life watching Cinderella. She took this picture and was proud of it!
Emmie stayed up until 11pm, got to spend time at GraMares, got a darling birthday present from Gug and Bumps, and got to munch on Halloween treats. What a dream night for a three year old! The real surprise came at about 10:30pm when Emmie came and handed me an unopened Reeses peanut butter cup. She was eating a carrot and wanted me to have the candy instead.....what??? I could only conclude that she was delirious because I have never seen anything like that before :)
Emmie and Luke dressed up for the Halloween party as a prince and princess. Jon was so great to orchestrate everything for the surprise to work.
We were all pretty wiped out by the end of the night. We are so happy to spend the weekend with the Feathies. The pumpkins in the background were going to be carved but we were too excited for the visit so we kept stalling. Finally, Marianne said "Luke, come with me to the garage to scout out a place to carve the pumpkins." There was no stopping her. She walked out right when Bumps' car pulled up. We heard a scream and ran out to the garage. We had all missed the initial surprise but Mare's reaction was priceless. She couldn't have been happier.
Joe had gone to the Jazz game. (Our Halloween party wasn't cool enough to convince him to turn down a friend who had offered him a front row seat......Come on, Joe----carving pumpkins and watching Cinderella or sitting in a $1,000 seat to watch one of your favorite sports games? I don't see where the toss up was :) He was a bit taken back when he walked in and saw Erin sitting in the kitchen.
We love you Mare and Joe! And we couldn't be happier to spend time with Erin, Mike, Andrew and Joseph. Come surprise us more :) I wish we could surprise visit you in Malaysia. I'm afraid we would get lost in South East Asia and that is just downright scary.
It was a marathon birthday since Jono had work off...yeah! We started out by going to the temple in the morning (my amazing sis took on 2 extra kids which meant her morning was most likely chaotic...thanks Ray!) It was a wonderful way to start the day.
Yes, Luke is wearing a hand-me-down coat from Em and it does have pink in it. At least his hat from Andrew looks more "boy."
My best friend Mariah was in town from San Francisco and took me to get a pedicure...yeah! It was such a great surprise for me to find out she was in town for Christmas. I haven't seen her for probably a year. It was so much fun...Thanks Marye! And yes, you can see my wonkie toe in this picture :) I asked Emmie which color nail polish I should get and she said blue! So, that was my present to Em as I knew she would be one of the only people who would see my toes and appreciate them in the winter anyway!
My darling Jon watched the kids and I came home to this (it was 6pm...perfect time for napping!) Thank you Jon for making this day so great...especially for facing the parking battle at temple square! Love you!
Then we went to Kneaders for dinner. We love their French dip (and of course all their pastries: see picture below)
My sis-in-law Erin surprised me with Peacock flowers (I love them) and Jon got me a new phone with a keyboard so I won't take 20 minutes to write a five word text! Thank you to everyone who called, left messages, emailed or texted me....It made my day!
P.S. Jon's Christmas present to himself:
