Fairies and Football: Sam and Ruby's Washington Trip / Grandpa's Birthday

Several months ago, my mom came for a quick visit while she was attending a funeral. I didn't tell the kids that she was coming and the look on their surprised faces was priceless. I had so much fun surprising them that I decided that I wanted to surprise someone else. So I decided that I'd fly to Washington for my dad's birthday in August and have it be a surprise. My mom secretly arrange with my dad's boss for him to have time off while I was there and my brother picked me up from the airport. I was worried that someone would accidently ruin the surprise but we managed to keep it a secret. It was the best birthday!

Since Ruby is free to fly and is still nursing she got to go with me. The other kids weren't happy that they didn't get to go. The girls even packed for the trip and told me that they were going to sneak onto the airplane. They keep telling Ruby how jealous they were of her.

Ruby did good on her first flight. She just got a little fussy in the middle of the flight but she wasn't screaming. She's the best little side kick.

After my brother, Ryan, picked us up, he took us to my parents' house. He snuck us into a storage room down in their basement. My mom put a sign on the door that said "Happy Birthday Donn" and had a big bow on it too. My mom told him that they had a present that was big and that they wanted to give to him early so he could enjoy it over the weekend. I got there on a Thursday night and my dad's birthday was the following Tuesday. When my dad walked into the room he saw me and Ruby. He was SOOOO surprised! It was awesome. It made all the months of being sneaky totally worth it.

Since Ruby was the only kid with me she got so much lovin' and attention. My dad loved laying on the living room floor playing with her.

And of course my mom was so excited to see her littlest grandbaby.

This was my brother, Ryan's, first time meeting Ruby.

While I was there we did a little shopping and went out to eat several times. We went places that I normally would go with my other kids. And since Ruby is the most mellow baby I've ever had, the trip was a much needed break from my mommy duties.

My Aunt Cindy came from central Washington one day. She got to meet Ruby for the first time.

Cindy drives the cutest VW Bug. I had to get a picture in it for Eli.

Saturday was the day Cindy came. That was also the day of my dad's surprise birthday party. My parents good friends agreed to host the party even though they had just found out that Diane has terminal pancreatic cancer. Ron called at the pre-arranged time and ask my dad to come give him a priesthood blessing and he invited the whole family to come. Cindy, Ryan, Ruby and I took off immediately in Cindy's car to the Jacobsen's house. My mom worked on delaying my dad while putting together the last minute touches on a gift basket for Diane that she just happened to be making.

When my parents got to the Jacobsen's house they invited them into their family room where we were all waiting. When my dad walked in we yelled, "SURPRISE!" He really was surprised. Here's a group picture of everyone that came...

This next picture just captivates my mom perfectly. She adores my dad!

Here's my dad with his dad who just turned 98 (I think) and his two sisters Jean and Judy.

My dad was married to another woman before my mom. He has five children from that marriage. Four of his five kids were able to make it. That really surprised him to see them all together.

Five generations. How often does that happen!? So cool.

And here's our little family.

The Jacobsen's' house is perfect for parties. They have a huge deck with four different layers.

This is just the top layer. It's totally inspired me for our back patio.

My uncle Ken and his wife Candis and daughter Katie just happened to be coming to Seattle from central Washington to go to the temple that morning so they came to the party afterwards.

It was so awesome to have so many people there to celebrate this milestone birthday with my dad. (Costco messed up on the cake and wrote all of the words in brown frosting instead of white.)

After the party was over and everyone left, our family just hung out at the Jacobsen's house for a little bit. My dad started not feeling well and threw up in the bathroom. We knew it was time to leave. Was we were walking out to the car he threw up in a neighbor's bushes. We were especially concerned because just two weeks prior he had surgery on his heart and had a defibrillator put in. I stayed at my parents house with Ruby and Ryan while my mom took my dad to the hospital. I was so worried while we waited to hear what was going on. It turns out that my dad had kidney stones. And luckily he passed them that night. So we was able to come home after a few hours! It was a huge blessing!

The next day was Sunday. We were exhausted but we went to church. It's always fun to go back to the ward I grew up in. I was able to see so many people that I know. I saw all three of my Young Women's Presidents. One has since moved to Georgia but was in town that weekend. And I was able to see some of my high school friends.

Sunday night we went over to my in-laws house for dessert. Ruby had a good time rolling around on the floor and playing in her Grandpa Christensen's lap. I didn't take any pictures with my camera but I did snap this one with my phone to show Sean. I wanted to share it because I love Kristi's expression and I love seeing her with her missionary tag on.