Christmas Surprise

Eric and I decided to do something different this year for the children. Instead of the usual routine of the children telling us"this is what I want for Christmas...." and Eric and I getting it for them, we decided to ignore them completely and do what we wanted. :) Well, not exactly.

We did think of what they might want and not ask for. Like a trip. We don't get to vacation much. In fact, we have taken three trips since the children have been born. We took Ty to St. Louis when he was 9 months old. We went on a mission trip with Ty and Tess to Maryland when they were 3 and 5. Our last jaunt was to Florida to stay with my mom a couple of years ago. I'm not complaining. We just don't go very often because it isn't in the budget.

So for this Christmas because of the generosity of some friends, we have the opportunity to visit the beautiful Smoky Mountains. To make it more fun, we decided to keep it a secret until Christmas morning and make their gifts clues to the trip. Each gift had a number on it and the kids opened them all in turn. I made up a little rhyme to accompany each round of presents that should set them on to the prize.

We purchased cold weather gear, games, books and other things to do on the car ride. I'll give you a sample of a few of the clues:

                 For the Pajamas: Something to keep you warm at night, Snuggle up and sleep tight.

                 For Long Underwear: You must wear these thermals underneath, they will help you hold

                                                   your body heat.

                 For games:For trips in the car, long rides....games make us laugh until we have pain in our sides.

                 For their boots: When the snow falls on a crystal morn, boots are sturdy and must

                                             be worn.

I know they aren't much, but the kids thought that they were fun. The final presents were suitcases. The luggage tags said, "Smoky Mountains Bound"The rhyme associated with them was "Suitcases! Travel! On-the-road! Off to the mountains! Here we go!"

It was really fun. I put travel sized toiletries in their stockings. They got into them before they opened their gifts. The children were a bit perplexed but still tried to be polite.Ty said, "Oh. Wow. Thanks Mom. Soap. Hmm. That's great." Tess and Amelia were excited about every gift. Even the travel sized Germ-Ex. Dinah just sat wide-eyed looking back and forth between the laughter and shouts. She quietly chewed on any piece of wrapping paper she could get her hands on.

Our decision was confirmed many times that day. Amelia explained to us about how we would know that we were on a mountain because it would have snow on it. She said, "We will look up momma and say, 'What a beautiful mountain.'" Tess wanted to have the phone immediately so that she could call her friends to tell them the good news.

Ty didn't pick up on the cold weather/warm clothes clues because he guessed that we were going to Disney world about half-way through.  He wasn't disappointed though when they found out we were going to the mountains. It was special when he hugged me and whispered, "This is the best Christmas ever."



I'll make sure to post a picture of that beautiful mountain when we are on it.

Becoming overwhelmed with love and thankfulness,

Anna