Academy Award

I pulled off the biggest surprise with Uncle Justin for Auntie Angie's birthday. We collaborated and I flew to Utah for her birthday. To say that it was easy to pull off a surprise of this magnitude would be quite the understatement. It was the opposite, actually. You see, your Aunt Angie has a wicked sixth sense, a "surprise radar" that is off the charts. When we were growing up she almost always guessed what her presents were for Christmas without even opening them (although there WERE times she unwrapped them and wrapped them back up). She would shake them, weigh them by the feel and analyze them and almost always figure it out. When it comes to surprises she has a way of connecting things and her attention to detail is also pretty crazy awesome.

I held this surprise in for 2 months. Your sisters also knew and kept their lips sealed, which was totally amazing. Back a few months ago when I booked the trip I talked to daddy about him taking your sisters somewhere while I was in Utah. When I told Auntie Angie we were going out of town Labor Day weekend she had the thought, "What if Leah isn't really going out of town and she's really coming here for my Birthday?" She knew it was far from likely and that it was just a thought but really wished it was the case. Fast forward to the week before her birthday. I told her about all the things I was doing tog get ready for our trip and she blurted out that she held on to a sliver of hope that I was really going to Utah and not Oklahoma and how that was all she really wanted for her birthday, to see Lexie and me. I immediately said, "Oh Ang, you're making me feel bad." To which she said, "Oh no, don't feel bad. I know it's not possible. I just want to see you so bad." I told her how I wished I could and not once did she think that Zeb would go somewhere with the girls while I flew to Utah with Lexie.

A few days before my flight she called me and said, "Leah, I don't think Justin got me anything for my birthday. Since I do the finances he usually tells me not to look at the bank statements but he hasn't said anything and is hunting until the day before my birthday!!!" I told her that he would probably get it just before and that because husbands are so busy that's pretty much what they do. Angie makes the BIGGEST deal about birthdays. Not just hers, your too. She celebrates you like crazy and makes you feel so special. She never forgets your birthday and in turn you never forget hers. I'm sure Justin has never forgotten her birthday and he did NOT disappoint this year.

The night before I flew out she was texting me about how she was going shopping with Gram and Aunt Stephanie and that she wished I could come. I told her I wished I could too and could't wait because I really was going to get to!!! I made sure to text her back after long periods of time because I was supposed to be in Oklahoma with crappy cell coverage. I had to think of everything!!!

An hour before I showed up at her house I posted a picture of the girls on the Lake in Oklahoma on Instagram which Angie saw. I'm so sneaky. I hid behind a bush by her front door while her neighbor knocked on her door while holding Lexie. I thought it would take Angie a few minutes, at least ONE minute, to realize it was Lexie. Oh no. She knew the second her neighbor turned her around her. The video speaks for itself.

This is one of my favorite videos and I could watch it a thousand times a day.

Justin was hunting so we made sure to catch it on video so her could see her reaction. What makes me the most happy is just to know that your Auntie loves me this much. I love her more though. She always fights me oaths one. Poor Lexie got scared...who wouldn't with that screaming? The best is when Angie asks me if I flew there. No, I drove for 21 hours with a baby in the car by myself. In Ang's defense, I had just posted on instagram and she was seriously confused.

I should get an Academy Award.

Best surprise ever.

xoxo

Mem