Read Part I of Let the Memories Begin Surprise
By the time we put the presents under the tree last night, I could hardly stand it. It was hard to believe that we had actually kept this a secret for nearly nine months and now the hour was upon us to “spring” the surprise. My husband had gone and bought a large plain box and then picked up Disney balloons that he taped down to the bottom of the box. Underneath the balloons were two gift bags with a new Disney t-shirt for each of the girls. It was a long Christmas Eve to say the least but we all had fun because we celebrate the Feast of Seven Fish each year with family. The girls got to spend time with their cousins and it was wonderful just all being together but we got home very late so the girls, who are now a teen and pre-teen, would rather have slept in. I couldn’t stand it. At 9:00am, I just had to wake them up! Fortunately, they were in good spirits since they too, knew it was Christmas. We went through our normal routine of exchanging gifts we’d gotten for one another first and then opened the stocking stuffers. The suspense was killing me. They opened what they thought was their last gift and then sat down to watch us open our gifts. They didn’t know that we had one surprise planned for them in advance of the Disney box. While they thought we were replacing the batteries in our camera, my husband and I dialed the numbers on their new cell phones. When the phones started ringing, they weren’t quite sure what to make of it but soon figured out what was going on and like any teen today, they were thrilled and squealed!
So now, my husband and I had to open our gifts. It seemed to take forever but we both really enjoyed what we had picked out for one another. Finally, the girls thought we were done. I looked around the room and pretended to notice that there was a gift missing while my husband went into the front room to get the box. We set it down and told the girls that they should just open the top since it wasn’t something they could move around easily. They knew something was up because we were, as they said, “camera ready”. They opened the box and when the balloons popped out, my older daughter got this “I’m too cool to scream” look on her face but my younger daughter had just the right reaction. You can imagine the reaction when I told them that were leaving in just four days and would be spending New Year’s Eve in Disney World! It was just what I had hoped it would be. We’re all still riding on a great high and sent a picture out to their aunts who were waiting to hear if we had pulled it off. Now to start thinking about packing and the next part of the surprise! Merry Christmas to all and pixie dust in the New Year.
By
Jeannette Cona-Larock