A Montana Christmas Surprise!!

We had just gotten back from our CA vacation on a Wednesday night and we were getting ready to leave for Montana on the next Monday....things changed. My grandma had fallen at the assisted living home she was living at. She broke her femur really bad and had to have surgery. My younger brother, Zane, wasn't even going to go to Montana for the holidays but he and his wife wanted to make a trip up to see Grandma and to help my dad feed cows while everything was going on with Grandma. He called me and wanted to know if we could leave a few days early and surprise my parents....so Chris and I being the way we are...said, "Why not?"

We left on Saturday instead of Monday all packed up for a week in Montana for Christmas. It was a really nice drive, the kids are such good travelers. We only hit a little bit of snow at the very end of our trip. Zane and Lindsey, Chris and I timed it just right to meet at Boman's Corner 20 miles from home and drive the rest of the way together. It timed out perfectly, I think Zane said he only waited 3 minutes for us to be coming from the other direction and then we drove the last 20 miles together. The kids were so excited to surprise GG and Papa and they were excited to see Lindsey and Zane too! We danced and sang to "Party in the USA" and "I gotta feeling" to get ready to finally get out of the car!

We pulled into the driveway which is almost a 1/2 mile long and we were going to turn our lights off so that my parents couldn't see us coming....Zane's went off but ours didn't....we have one of those vans that the lights come on automatically when you start the car and we didn't have any clue how to turn them off! So we hoped they didn't see us and they didn't until my dad was walking down the hall and happened to look out the window and see a car (he didn't know whose) parked in front of the garage. At that point, we hurried out of the car and up to the steps and knocked on the door. When my dad opened it we started singing "We wish you a Merry Christmas". They were so surprised and excited to have us there. They were glad we came early and they were so excited to see Zane and Lindsey since they weren't supposed to come. It was so fun!

We all walked in and hung out, the kids loved seeing GG's house all decorated for Christmas. Brooklyn had been really into Gingerbread men and my mom's whole kitchen is decorated with gingerbread houses and men. Beckham really liked my mom's candy tree. They also had to see the cats right away and they were excited (as well and my dad) that we were taking Frosting home with us.

After visiting and eating and having a good time, Chris and I could not wait to show my parents and Zane and Lindsey one of their Christmas presents. It was two stop motion videos that we made with the kids. One was called "A Frosty Day" and the other was, "The Christmas Story". Both are below. Everyone loved them and we were all cracking up. Beckham even heard the movie from the bedroom and came out and was excited to show his movie to everyone. We had so much fun making them!

Here are the videos!!

The last ten minutes to Simms!


The Big Surprise!!


"A Frosty Day"

"The Christmas Story"