It's been too long!
Dear fellow blog readers,
I must apologize for being so delinquent in writing - we've been a little busy traveling! Before we made the big move, Dave and I decided we would not be making a journey home for the Christmas season and would instead go to Egypt for a winter vacation. We had scoped out and gotten quotes for a few hotels and travel packages and had told our parents all the details...Although a last minute decision, we decided we'd much rather go home for Christmas and be with the ones we love so much. So, we secretly planned our trip home!
I have to say, the surprise is probably one of the best I've ever planned/witnessed! It was priceless!
The day started early - 3:30am England time and I don't think I slept a wink either because of excitement or fear of oversleeping - or maybe a little bit of both. We got up, showered, ate some left over pizza and loaded up the car. I have to pause here to once again pat myself on the back for getting us packed and ready the night before - our bags waited for us by the front door ready to go! We were ready for our two hour journey to Heathrow Airport. Although the snow had just melted in our village of Mickleover, London was a completely different story! As we progressed south, more and more snow appeared and I began to worry if A) we would make it to the airport on time and B) if our flight would take off on time! Once we got to the airport - we searched the signs for the car hire return. Not to brag, but we had never had to drive ourselves to Heathrow - we always had a driver, so navigating Heathrow's busy airport at 5:30 on a busy Saturday morning was more than overwhelming! All of the airport signs had a thick layer of snow covering them up - no doubt from the snow trucks rushing by to clear the freshly fallen snow. Anyway, once we found the car hire return, we waited for the bus to transport us to Terminal 3. We managed to squeeze onto the bus and made it to the Air Canada gate to check in. Once again, Dave was on the "no-fly" list and they had to call Toronto to verify he was indeed, not THE David Anderson on the list. Among other things, this process was holding us up and we were beginning to wonder if we even had enough time to catch our flight! Once we were clear - we rushed through security - I'm pretty sure I would have stripped down to my undies if they'd asked as long as we made this flight!
Anyway, we made it on the flight and all was well. I was very satisfied with Air Canada's service and staff. I didn't have to ask for a whole can of diet coke - they just gave it to me!
Fast-forward 8.5 hours later and we landed in Toronto! Much to our excitement, the captain came over the loud speakers to say that we were THE last plane to leave Heathrow before they shut the airport down! WOOOHOO!! People actually started clapping (I may or may not have been one of them)! However, my attention was quickly turned onto our next problem: we had to A) clear Canadian Customs and B) make our connecting flight. I wouldn't have been so worried, but having only about 3 Customs workers and a plane-full of passengers needing to get through did not make for a good time! Not gonna lie, I started sweating. The girl in front of us heard Dave and I bantering back and forth if we should tell one of the Customs workers that our flight had already started boarding and she offered to give us her spot. We thanked her but declined, hoping and praying this line would move faster!!!!
Once we got up to our Canadian Customs person, she asked us if we were going home for the holidays, etc., etc. - the usual stuff - and I swear Dave turned into a robot! She would no sooner get the question out, and Dave would answer her! I think she could tell we were in a hurry, but held us up long enough to say that she felt "somewhat attacked" by Dave's responses. We looked at each other like - ??????? And were glad to move on. We grabbed our suitcases and threw them up on the conveyor belt, went through security and ran to our gate. Just made it and......found out the flight was delayed! While relieved at this point, I didn't care anymore! Enough with the delays - I just wanted to go HOME!!!!
Thank goodness the flight was short and sweet! We landed in Indy and it felt different - the same, but different in a way. Needless to say, it felt good to be HOME! After talking with Amy to see if my parents were home - she and her husband left the Butler game in enough time to distract them before their holiday party so we could make our surprise entrance. We thankfully had all of our luggage and got our rental car. It took no time to get to the North side of Indy and we were about two minutes away. I was getting nervous! I couldn't wait to see everyone's faces! After all - we were in "Egypt!"
I rang the door bell and I could hear my parents' dogs barking. Then, my little sister, Carolyn came to the door and was unlocking it - she peered through the window and we could hear her say, "it's David!!" Upon opening the door, she noticed me and just said, "Oh my gosh!!!!" Once we got inside, my parents yelled from upstairs what was going on, and quickly came down the stairs, saw us and started crying!
Everyone was so shocked! It was, as the Brits say, "brilliant!" After catching up for a bit and more hugs and kisses, my parents needed to leave for their party. We said our, "see you tomorrow's" and were on our way to our next stop - Gary and Vickie's!!
We were cruising up Keystone and my heart was fluttering with excitement and anticipation! We quickly made it up the driveway - although stealthily enough to go undetected. As we rang the doorbell, we could hear Gary through the door say to Vickie, "Are we expecting someone?" Dave stuck his head in the front door window and as Gary opened the door, all I remember hearing him say was, "Oh shit!" Then we hugged - pretty sure I saw a tear or two on Gary's cheek - and ran to find Vickie - who was making dinner in the kitchen. We turned the corner and Dave said in the most nonchalant way possible, "So, what's for dinner?" To which Vickie, who was rendered speechless and overcome with emotion, stared at us! Once it registered it was us and were were here - HOME - she began to cry!
BEST....SURPRISE....EVER!!!!!
I must apologize for being so delinquent in writing - we've been a little busy traveling! Before we made the big move, Dave and I decided we would not be making a journey home for the Christmas season and would instead go to Egypt for a winter vacation. We had scoped out and gotten quotes for a few hotels and travel packages and had told our parents all the details...Although a last minute decision, we decided we'd much rather go home for Christmas and be with the ones we love so much. So, we secretly planned our trip home!
I have to say, the surprise is probably one of the best I've ever planned/witnessed! It was priceless!
The day started early - 3:30am England time and I don't think I slept a wink either because of excitement or fear of oversleeping - or maybe a little bit of both. We got up, showered, ate some left over pizza and loaded up the car. I have to pause here to once again pat myself on the back for getting us packed and ready the night before - our bags waited for us by the front door ready to go! We were ready for our two hour journey to Heathrow Airport. Although the snow had just melted in our village of Mickleover, London was a completely different story! As we progressed south, more and more snow appeared and I began to worry if A) we would make it to the airport on time and B) if our flight would take off on time! Once we got to the airport - we searched the signs for the car hire return. Not to brag, but we had never had to drive ourselves to Heathrow - we always had a driver, so navigating Heathrow's busy airport at 5:30 on a busy Saturday morning was more than overwhelming! All of the airport signs had a thick layer of snow covering them up - no doubt from the snow trucks rushing by to clear the freshly fallen snow. Anyway, once we found the car hire return, we waited for the bus to transport us to Terminal 3. We managed to squeeze onto the bus and made it to the Air Canada gate to check in. Once again, Dave was on the "no-fly" list and they had to call Toronto to verify he was indeed, not THE David Anderson on the list. Among other things, this process was holding us up and we were beginning to wonder if we even had enough time to catch our flight! Once we were clear - we rushed through security - I'm pretty sure I would have stripped down to my undies if they'd asked as long as we made this flight!
Anyway, we made it on the flight and all was well. I was very satisfied with Air Canada's service and staff. I didn't have to ask for a whole can of diet coke - they just gave it to me!
Fast-forward 8.5 hours later and we landed in Toronto! Much to our excitement, the captain came over the loud speakers to say that we were THE last plane to leave Heathrow before they shut the airport down! WOOOHOO!! People actually started clapping (I may or may not have been one of them)! However, my attention was quickly turned onto our next problem: we had to A) clear Canadian Customs and B) make our connecting flight. I wouldn't have been so worried, but having only about 3 Customs workers and a plane-full of passengers needing to get through did not make for a good time! Not gonna lie, I started sweating. The girl in front of us heard Dave and I bantering back and forth if we should tell one of the Customs workers that our flight had already started boarding and she offered to give us her spot. We thanked her but declined, hoping and praying this line would move faster!!!!
Once we got up to our Canadian Customs person, she asked us if we were going home for the holidays, etc., etc. - the usual stuff - and I swear Dave turned into a robot! She would no sooner get the question out, and Dave would answer her! I think she could tell we were in a hurry, but held us up long enough to say that she felt "somewhat attacked" by Dave's responses. We looked at each other like - ??????? And were glad to move on. We grabbed our suitcases and threw them up on the conveyor belt, went through security and ran to our gate. Just made it and......found out the flight was delayed! While relieved at this point, I didn't care anymore! Enough with the delays - I just wanted to go HOME!!!!
Thank goodness the flight was short and sweet! We landed in Indy and it felt different - the same, but different in a way. Needless to say, it felt good to be HOME! After talking with Amy to see if my parents were home - she and her husband left the Butler game in enough time to distract them before their holiday party so we could make our surprise entrance. We thankfully had all of our luggage and got our rental car. It took no time to get to the North side of Indy and we were about two minutes away. I was getting nervous! I couldn't wait to see everyone's faces! After all - we were in "Egypt!"
I rang the door bell and I could hear my parents' dogs barking. Then, my little sister, Carolyn came to the door and was unlocking it - she peered through the window and we could hear her say, "it's David!!" Upon opening the door, she noticed me and just said, "Oh my gosh!!!!" Once we got inside, my parents yelled from upstairs what was going on, and quickly came down the stairs, saw us and started crying!
Everyone was so shocked! It was, as the Brits say, "brilliant!" After catching up for a bit and more hugs and kisses, my parents needed to leave for their party. We said our, "see you tomorrow's" and were on our way to our next stop - Gary and Vickie's!!
We were cruising up Keystone and my heart was fluttering with excitement and anticipation! We quickly made it up the driveway - although stealthily enough to go undetected. As we rang the doorbell, we could hear Gary through the door say to Vickie, "Are we expecting someone?" Dave stuck his head in the front door window and as Gary opened the door, all I remember hearing him say was, "Oh shit!" Then we hugged - pretty sure I saw a tear or two on Gary's cheek - and ran to find Vickie - who was making dinner in the kitchen. We turned the corner and Dave said in the most nonchalant way possible, "So, what's for dinner?" To which Vickie, who was rendered speechless and overcome with emotion, stared at us! Once it registered it was us and were were here - HOME - she began to cry!
BEST....SURPRISE....EVER!!!!!
posted by Sarah Anderson at
6:36 PM
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