There have been so many surprises this weekend but the best surprise of all was all my kids together at our house for the first time in over 7 months.
Katie and Andrew flew in from North Carolina arriving just before 11 a.m. today and no one knew they were coming but Dear and I. Dan arrived from Eastern Washington at 4 a.m. driving for 6 hours after his work shift and went straight to bed. When Dan woke up he was very surprised to see his sister and Andrew. He had no idea they were traveling to Washington. When Josh and Laura arrived to have lunch with us and to see their brother Dan they were surprised to see Katie and Andrew! The last surprise was when Aunt Lana and Uncle Steve came for lunch and were surprised to see Katie and Andrew, too. Dan’s birthday is tomorrow and Joshua’s birthday is on Thursday so we going out to dinner tomorrow night. Table for 7 please! I’ll take some photos of all of us when we are a little more dolled up for our dinner out…
We’ve had a very lovely day enjoying food together and hearing about Andrew’s experience in Afghanistan and just being able to see each other face to face.
We’ve also enjoyed looking out on our new white world.
Last but not least…the votes are in. I tried on the two dresses and the shoes to go with them and the unanimous vote from the bride, my DIL and my sister Lana is the dress that goes with the silver shoes! I’ll show the full look when I post photos from the wedding day…
Hope you all have a wonderful week and to those of you in the U.S. hope your Martin Luther King day is a good one.
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
That’s wonderful! Enjoy your family!
Those shoes are beautiful! My feet hurt already! 🙂
I liked the silver shoes the best too. So great for you all to enjoy each other once again.
And they are all good surprises! Well, maybe not the snow, depending on how you feel about driving in it! The shoes are too cute!
Oh YAY!!!!! So excited for you all! And I love those shoes on you. They actually look comfortable….my feet sighed with relief. LOL And I LOVE your snow. We were back up to the low 60’s today. Happy week!
Sweet! So glad you are all together for a few hours or days!
Yup. The silver shoes 🙂
Surprises+family=happy, memorable, wonderful day.
Photos of winter in the NW are beautiful and the shoes are perfect!
(And I hope you haven’t fainted, Ellen. I actually commented today and it felt good! Still reading every post but I spend very little time online these days–just on and off)
Oh joy! Wonderful for you all to be together!
Good choice…the shoes look so comfortable, the dress is just the right hint of loveliness…can’t wait for the wedding.
The happiness! I can just imagine the chat around the table, each one so happy to see the other.
I love the shoes – can’t wait to see the dress unveiled!
What a wonderful treat for all of you to be together! Lots of things to celebrate!
We’ve all enjoyed your anticipation of this fun weekend that you have been planning for awhile. Thanks for sharing all your updates…and we’re coming for leftovers.
Isn’t the snow just the best?
What a great surprise…all around! You guys have a fun time over there…celebrating birthdays and family and togetherness.
I like your choice…of shoes and dress…from what I’ve seen!
How wonderful to have your kids all home at the same time! I know Katie and Andrew enjoyed surprising everyone, Hope your dinner tonight is special…look forward to pics! Snow is lovely, too.You will have to enjoy it enough for both of us. Doubt we will get any here.:-)
Happiness multiplies at your house!
What a beautiful family reunion! So, you have snow too, eh? We’re having tons and minus 27C temp. But lots of sunshine.
Now that is a lovely and joyful surprise indeed! Enjoy your family.
The glimpse you’ve shown us of the dress and shoes looks absolutely fabulous!
Oh how fun Ellen B!! glad everyone made it through the snow, which looks beautiful if I don’t mind saying. So, Katie and Andrew are getting married on the 11th?? I’m sure it will be beautiful and hopefully there won’t be any snow by then…unless of course Katie would like some ;-).
it’s freezing cold here so I’m amusing your arctic wind blew it my way…altho I’m not complaining ‘-)
Hope you have a lovely week!!! And yes, that bunny was something of a sight…HA!
Love, cori g.
I like those silver shoes even better when I see them on your feet. Perfect for celebrating!
What a nice surprise. Enjoy your time with all your kids!
Love the tease photo! Great legs!
So glad the surprise worked out well! So much fun!
Nice legs!
Oh, what a fun surprise!!!!! I thought of doing this to my family back home. 🙂