Bethie's Big Christmas Surprise and Everyone Else's Too

I think every year most families (dare I speak out of turn) or at least our family anyways, always has some big surprise that gets revealed at Christmas. In years past, it has been an iPod, a Tiffany's necklace, a Swiss Army watch, etc., well this year we had a couple of surprises. The one that I am going to write about is Bethany's big surprise since this wasn't covered in the Christmas Day Photo entry.

We wanted to do something special for Bethany this year. We wanted to really make this "her" Christmas since next Christmas will probably be more focused on the baby whether by purpose or not. It's bound to happen. Jeff and I thought and thought and thought what could we do for her this year. Money was tight around our house because of the recession in the States caused our COLA (cost of living allowance- for overseas living) was cut nearly in half and we had to get baby furniture purchased so it could be put together before Jeff leaves in January.

We went over so many ideas. She had listed a yellow iPod, a SLR camera or a laptop computer. She had also really been mooning around how she needed a break from over here and really wanted to go back to California since she hadn't been back in nearly 3 years. She was also kind of bummed that she wouldn't be seeing her grandparents for the first time on Christmas in nearly 14 years and with no other relatives planning to visit and no trips planned on our end- she felt this was going to be a pretty bleak Christmas.

I do have to say in spite of all of the above- her mooning around and bleakness- she made the very most of Christmas this year. She was involved in every aspect of the Christmas season and tradition. Which is a first in our household since she was a very little girl. She woke up some mornings, racing through the house and yelling "1 MORE DAY TILL CHRISTMAS!!!! WOOOOOO HOOOOOOO!!!!!" over and over and skipping and acting crazy. We were proud of her that inspite of the bleakness of not having any family around - Bethany was making the most of Christmas. Such a turn around for her since years past.

I have to say that she was not the only one bleak. I was kind of bleak myself. Here I am "terminally pregnant" (as my mom likes to say) and no one was coming to visit. Nobody to come and rub the buddha belly. I love having a full house and we didn't even have visitors on Thanksgiving. It was bound to be a rough Christmas, right? Jeff was even quite bummed. His hardest was at Thanksgiving being the entertainer in the family. Christmas however brought on even a little more gloom and doom. Both of my parents were quite ill over the fact that they would not see us this Christmas. They had promised last Christmas to go see my brother and sister-in-law. As in years past, if one of the children were absent whether me or Steven, my mother glooms about the house moaning the absence of the other child all through Christmas. Lots of pleading went out from those two to come visit them at my brother's house. And, let's add Steven and Thalyta to the list. Thalyta is near crazy at the prospect of becoming an Auntie again. Lots of bribing to get me to move to Florida to have the baby so she could take care of me. Steven, meanwhile, was also bemoaning the fact that while he knew that our family would be okay- just like he had been in past years- he knew he would have to listen to mom moaning the loss of the absence of the other child. Does the list end there? I should think not, let's add in Jeff's parents as well. They had planned for a year to come and visit us at Christmas, but with the recession, fuel prices and the rise in airlines tickets- there was just no way that they could reasonably afford to fly over. At the last moment, they decided that they just couldn't justify the cost and had to make other plans. Because of this fact, no one visited them at Christmas either including Jeff's siblings who reside on the East Coast (Jeff's parents are in Oregon). So, Bethany had it right, it was bound to be a bleak Christmas, right? No money, no family, no friends....what could there be to be happy about?

Well, let me just sum up that through the month of December, there was only one of those people who were truly depressed over their "loss". Any guesses? That would be my mom. However, in spite of her bemoaning the absence of lost children and grandchildren, she too had an excellent time at my brother's house. It turned out that Bethany got into the Christmas spirit- as stated above, Jeff made the best of hardtimes and got very involved in all of the Church related Christmas programs, I was brimming at happiness over having the one Christmas present that I had asked God for years to give, Steven and Thalyta were quite anxious for my parents to arrive and get them going looking for a house to move into. And, lastly, Jeff's parents made the best of an empty house and planned a side trip as well as having Bethany Sarah home. So, things were looking up and brighter by every day.

Now, lets go back- the surprise. We had 3 COT tickets on our orders from pcsing to another german post and extending for 3 years. They are tickets that the government gives to you for doing this and are free of charge for you to fly home. Over lots of planning and fussing, we ended up deciding that both of us would sacrifice 2 of the COT tickets and just stay home with each other since we couldn't afford extra flights to see each other's parents. Instead, we decided to let Bethany use hers. We went and after lots of searching for flights at the last minute, purchased a round trip ticket to Miami, Florida. It would leave the day after Christmas. When would we give it to her? Why the day of Christmas of course!

More planning went into this with scheduling stuff with my brother and sister-in-law. Making sure no one spilled the beans to either Bethany or my parents. A lot harder than one might think, by the way! The day came and Bethany truly had her socks knocked off- to the point of suffering a couple of panic attacks at the thought. She simply could not believe that she would indeed be leaving for the States the next day. The toughest part is when she had to talk to her grandparents over the phone and not spill the beans to them. She conned them pretty badly and they never knew what hit them when she arrived at the airport. I will post my brother's email of her arrival after the photos of her opening her gift.

What could be in this large package?

What is this?

Ok....uh, a rolling duffle bag? (I explained that after her last trip with the Club Beyond that she griped about her luggage- so I got her a new piece.) Aahhh... ok........ is there anything in there?

Oh, look there is something inside! What is this?

Oooh, an American Eagle t-shirt!

Is there anything else in there, mom? (I don't remember, honey. No, there isn't anything in the side pocket. If I would have put anything else in there, it would be in the main comparment.) Underneath the tissue paper maybe, mom? ( Honey, I honestly can't remember. You can check though.)

A piece of paper? What is this, Dad? [I don't know, Sis, maybe you should read it?] I don't understand what it's saying though.....

OMG! Am I going somewhere? [I don't know, Sis. What does the paper say?]

OOOOMMMGGGG! I'm going to Florida!!!!!!!!!!!!! Where's my inhaler?!

All packed and ready to go at the Munich Airport. No more panic attacks, just all smiles. I was so happy for my girl to be able to do this!

Here is the email from my brother explaining the events on his end:

"Package arrived safe and sound.

The day started off good with big smiles on our faces as the plot unfolded. I dragged around for part of the day then took Mom and Dad out to lunch, shopping and looking at some houses.
Thalyta claimed she had things to do and Mom insisted on staying with her, but I finally convinced her go with me. Thalyta stayed home getting things ready for Beth. We came back to pick her up around 6 and were going to head down to Miami for dinner and a mall we had taken them to before. We had everyone in the car and I had to change clothes, so I ran back in and the phone rang right on time and it was the escort service (Thanks for getting the escort service it was worth the money they were very good) telling me the flight would be 2 hours delayed Whew! good to know because the Internet had just told me everything was on time! So, now I gotta kill 2 more hours. We took them shopping to 2 different bead stores and they were in hog heaven and that helped eat up time. Went to Chilis and heard your Chilis story again lol. Headed for the airport Dad had no idea we were even going. I mentioned it in front of Mom a couple days earlier and said to Thalyta are you sure we need to go to the airport on my only day off (acting mad) can't your family afford shipping? LOL All this in front of Mom (as I roll my eyes to Thalyta's answer of Yes!) Mom bought it all. So we get parked and beat it for the terminal "F" we get to the terminal on time and Thalyta said she needed to talk and so we walk and go check the flight boards only to find out the flight arrives at terminal "J"! OMG! and it's arrived already! We freak and start hustling towards the terminal only to find some confusing signs saying "J" International this way and "J" domestic the other way. So which is it still an international flight? No can't be coming from Dulles right? I'm confused so I run upstairs to "J" international see some blank stares and doesn't look like an arrival point so I run down stairs get ahead of everyone and ask some people and they confirm they are waiting for the Dulles flight whew! were still on time! Well Mom and Dad suspect nothing. When we parked I found a free luggage cart and got Dad to push it saying we would probably need this for the package because we were not sure of it's size!? So they sit far from the arrival point and I tell Thalyta this is not good because how are you going to film this (the entry point was a mile long and you could see people from a good distance but could not enter because of security). So I'm straining to see her red Santa hat (Not!) then I spot her and rush way back to Mom and Dad and say HEY! come with the cart and get this package! Beth has come through the gate with the escort and is about to intersect with Mom and Dad coming with the cart. Well they don't even see her!!! They are fixated on where this guy is from Brazil with a package!? Then Dad figures her out and he's in shock! Mom is looking right at Beth and don't recognize her at all. Then Dad starts towards Beth and Mom is now in total shock. They are both in shock and dumbfounded (finally a good use of this word because they truly were). Meanwhile Thalyta is filming away but I don't even see her I'm just taking in their faces in TOTAL disbelief. FINALLY the hugging begins after I say So do you like your package they truly were in shock and speechless they said nothing. It was at first scary then laughable. They were totally stumped beyond my words hopefully the video will tell a better story. Finally I had to bust in and get my hug. They still had a stunned look on their faces and we started explaining. They couldn't believe we pulled this off. It was worth every penny you paid I promise! Thalyta said your Mom's going to forget me now LOL I said no were all family and now it will be even more fun because you girls can go shopping and do girl stuff together. I know they will have a blast together. Thalyta is cool and very thoughtful she's really enjoying Mom and Dad. Anyway back to the story. We strike out on the crazy journey across the parking lots trying to cut our walking time in half. Picture a U and of course were on the opposite side. After a hike without GPS, maps or compass we make it back to the car and get underway I'm zipping through the ramps doing my Indian cab driver impersonation and got all of them cracking up in the car I call Dad Habib my assistant cab driver in training. Thalya and I use our secret code on the way back and drop off the freeways to Krispy Kream donuts for a surprise for everyone and Beth got to see them manufacturing donuts before her very eyes. We got a dozen donuts right out of the frier God they were soooooo good Beth inhaled 3-4 (they are like eating clouds of sugar so light). She said something about not eating since 3! Something about Euro conversion etc. Well, not long after we left Beth fell asleep on Mom lol poor kid was spent. Got her home she got to meet the real Krispy Kream. Then we called you and I dropped off to bed for my 4.5 hours of sleep. I awoke in a lurch and dove into the shower and dashed into here to work. Beth was zoned out on the sleeper sofa when I left. I'm sure they will all sleep for a long time. They will all have fun these remaining days we got Wii and were playing all day Christmas. Beth will get a kick out of Thalyta's brother he is like 22 and pretty kewl he loves the video games and is an internet freak. They will all have fun together especially with the Wii games. And to let you know Beth arrived normal she was already checking out guys at the donut shop LOL Americans she said real Americans LOL Don't worry BIG brother will look out for her!"

So, that is the end of our December stories and pictures. I'm sure I missed something in there, but it really doesn't compare with this story here. Now, finally, I will start posting January stuff.... and guess what else.....NURSERY PHOTOS!

Love to all,

Jeff, Pam, Bethany & Isaac