Surprised speechless...

After nearly 39 years of marriage I was certain that there would be no way my mate could keep a secret from me; and by my 58th birthday I thought that I had pretty much seen it all. At least that was what I thought... but I was wrong!

Last week, on my birthday, I was waiting in the car while Phil checked us into our hotel for a "little" vacation in Florida. (Lori was with us and MB had decided at the last minute to fly down and join us too.) Sitting there, I just turned to glance at a car that had pulled up along side us and... everyone in that car looked familiar! That was weird. I looked again. I blinked. I was momentarily speechless. My thoughts churned: whoa... wait a minute! whe? ...whaa? ...who? When I found my voice, "OWEN!" was all that came out, but they were ALL there! Julie from Colorado; Rachel, Rog and the baby from Minnesota and Mimi at the wheel of a rental car! With perfect timing, Mimi had left from Cape Coral in the morning, swung through the Orlando airport to pick up the others and pulled up along side us as we checked in - to a gorgeous fully appointed vacation suite! The various flights were nothing less than miraculous as most of us escaped just ahead of snow storms, blizzards and bitter cold temperatures.

Later we were joined for pizza by Mark, Kathy, Tyler and Abbey! (another miracle... another story) We met up with them again later at Universal Studios.

We sunned and funned; we used the pool and the spa; we played and we walked and we laughed. We ate giant hamburgers and Lori's lasagna; we rode rollercoasters and shuttles; we played Pictionary and Soup (thanks to Tyler); we drank coffee, watched movies , took pictures, shopped the outlets and took many turns hugging Owen.

Though the idea originated with Phil, it took off as each one joined in on the surprise. It took everyone to pull it off, and each one did their part to make it a special four days together. I will never forget it. It was AWESOME! Thank you.

The Birthday Girls - MM and Kathy

Ladies Man

G G-ma relaxing

Universal Studios

We saw Abbey and Tyler too.

Tried Feeding Tyler to the Shark!