Utah Surprise

Shortly before Thanksgiving, our family was given news that left us upset and deeply disappointed.  The house that we had been building for months, which the builder had promised we would be into by Christmas, was not going to be completed on time.  It was a hard pill to swallow, and one that didn't go down without a few unkind words to our builder, but one that had to be accepted nonetheless.

  

Part of the reason for our disappointment centered around celebrating Christmas in the new house.  As a Christmas surprise, we had bought new bedroom sets for the kids rooms and were looking forward to doing the big bedroom reveal on Christmas morning.  The furniture and accessories were all on a shipping hold and were set to be delivered to the new house shortly after December 12th, the day we were supposed to close.  Missing our closing date, therefore, meant not only having to have the furniture delivered to our rental house and having to move it a month later, but having no fun surprise on Christmas morning.  It was a lot of planning gone right down the drain!

Additionally, Nick had taken a week of vacation right after closing so that we could get moved, settled, and be all prepared for the holidays.  Now we had a week to sit and stare at each other in an already overcrowded rental house.  It was a bad situation, and one made worse by the fact that despite all of our pleading, we still couldn't get a new closing date firmed up with our builder.  It made me furious every time I thought about all of the hassle and inconvenience caused by another's complete disregard for commitment and contract, but all the anger in the world didn't change the sad situation.  Still, something had to be done to alleviate the stress and tension, and what better solution than taking another week away from home to get our mind off of things. 

After a lot of pondering, we decided upon the perfect plan.  We would pack up and head to Utah for a week.  The only catch was, we weren't going to tell anyone we were coming.  We'd put the kids on Grandma and Grandpa's front porch in a big box and give them an early Christmas present to remember.  The plan ended up getting a little tweaked when Aunt Brenda found out we were coming, but with her help, we were able to make the surprise even better.  She got the whole family out to dinner at the Olive Garden, and she got the Olive Garden staff to help us pull off the stunt.  They hid us in a back room and then wheeled out the giant present for them to open in front of the whole restaurant.

When the kids jumped out of the box, they were shocked out of their pants.  Shocked, and delighted.  Everybody hugged and laughed and cried.  It was the prefect Christmas surprise!!

The rest of the week we spent playing with cousins,

snowmobiling,

and we even got to take the kids to the lights on temple square for the first time.

The trip was a wonderful distraction from our housing frustrations, and the last night the Hoskins even threw a little birthday party for Madison since we would be spending her actual birthday on the road.

She had a wonderful time and it was the perfect ending to a very memorable week.  

The next morning we gave her birthday breakfast in Grandma's bed,

and then loaded all of the kids into the car for fifteen hours of driving through this:

It was pretty hairy here and there, but we finally made it home safe and sound.  Of course our first stop was to the new house, even though it was well after one in the morning, but then we turned into the rental driveway and crashed once more in our own beds.