Surprise Guests

This weekend was overflowing with blessing.  We had planned a quiet family weekend.  Since we'll be traveling some over the holidays, we'd promised the kids that we would set up our Christmas tree early.  We wanted to go to downtown and do some of our Christmas shopping in the great little shops here in town.  Saturday morning dawned bright and early (Cora has been sick all week and sleep is a thing of the past).  We enjoyed a quick breakfast, left all the dishes on the table, and snuggled up on the couch in our PJs to watch cartoons.  After about an hour, there was a knock on our door.  I sat up from where I was lounging with the kids, surprised.  There at the door stood my sister-in-law and brother-in-law!  We jumped up, and Micah beamed.  So this was why he'd been hinting all morning that I might want to shower and get dressed!  What a fun surprise!  They'd been scheming all week to pull off a surprise visit.  We gave them a tour of our house, took them to all our little downtown shops, played in the backyard on the swings, showed them our new church, and even set up the Christmas tree (before Thanksgiving, much to the chagrin of my brother-in-law.  He was a great sport!).  They are so wonderful--laid back, fun, and thoughtful.  They showed up for a surprise visit, but they brought all of the food we ate this weekend, and cooked and cleaned every meal.  They played with the kids, hung out with us, and oohed and aahed over our new surroundings.  It was a wonderful, perfect surprise.  I have so much for which to be thankful, and at the absolute top of my list are the two families I am honored to call mine.  And the fun keeps coming--we get to see them again in just a few days!