Surprise #1 and #2

Remember how I mentioned there were some surprises in store? Well, Thursday morning I got to unveil Surprise #1...Kelli and Baby Joseph came too!!! I called her on Tuesday morning and said "are you sure you can't come? Please???? There's an airline that flies from S. Florida to Columbia for $19 each way (seriously!!!) ". Kelli's pretty easy to convince when it comes to stuff like this. We also decided not to tell ANYONE she was coming. (Well, I told David and of course he rolled his eyes and thought we were NUTS!) She bought her ticket that afternoon (poor Scott couldn't just ditch work...) and arrived Wednesday night. Her flight was delayed quite a bit, so she snuck in a little after midnight. I got her secretly in the house, and she and Joseph slept in the baby's room. The next morning, as the rest of us were peacefully downstairs having breakfast, she and Baby Joseph walked downstairs and made QUITE a grand entrance!!! it was SO exciting!

Here's Kelli hugging Mary, and Kim saying to me "you are such a liar Katy! I can't believe you kept this a secret!!!"

And THIS is Kim saying "WHAT? You slept here last night and I didn't even know??"

The rest of the cousins couldn't wait to get their hands on Joseph. He was 9 weeks old and SUCH a lovebug!!!

Here's ALMOST all the cousins (where was Mary??)

L-R Josiah, jacob, Luke, Baby Joseph, John, Matthew, and Callie

We decided that since Matthew woke up EARLY that morning (5 AM) and Kelli and Joseph were still recovering from their late flight the night before, we'd send the dads off with the big boys to the free movie so the little ones could get their naps in. They enjoyed it, and we girls enjoyed some quiet time at the house!

Here's the BIG boys!!!

John was SUCH a good helper with Joseph - loved to hold him, push his stroller, whatever!

And then later that afternoon, Tutu arrived!! We were SO glad she came down to see us and Kim's family. She couldn't resist when she heard Kim & the family were going to be here, she wanted in on the celebration. This is Callie giving her a BIG welcome hug. She LOVES her Tutu!!

And here's Surprise #2!! We didn't tell Mom that Kelli and Joseph were coming, so we hid them upstairs in the baby room when Mom first arrived. As I was giving her the grand tour of the house, we got upstairs to the baby's room, opened the door, and Mom discovered Kelli & Baby Joseph!!! How FUN is that! (Kelli is QUEEN of surprises - loves them anytime. Mom doesn't like surprises for the most part, because she likes to be prepared. If this gathering had been at her house, there's no way we could have done it. But since it was at my house, I knew about it and was already prepared with food, sleeping arrangements, etc.)

Here's Mom and Kelli holding the babies, and Mom saying "I can't believe you're HERE!!!" The two of them have almost the same expression on their faces!

Mary has a real interest in cooking. Her mom (Kim) really doesn't (although she's a MUCH better decorator than I am!), so always take any opportunity I can to have Mary help me with stuff in the kitchen - she loves it, and I love having a sous chef!! Mary helped me make a cheesecake from scratch (YUMMY!). (Beth, it's Vonda's recipe...ooooohhhhhh yummmmm!)