Surprise!!!

Well, the results are in and it's been confirmed--we do have the best kids in the world!  This past Sunday was Bill's 60th birthday.  It was also Simi's blessing day.  We planned to celebrate the birthday on Saturday with a lovely family breakfast at the Pedal Car Cafe, kindly hosted by the young Reeds.  There was Carl, Heather, Spencer, Aubrey, Will, Bill, me, Clare, Chris and Simi.  The group also included Sarah, Sean, Ashton, Alvie and Ezra who had driven into town the night before.  We had not even ordered our food when in walked Liza and Emily!  Bill and I were both so shocked!  What a wonderful surprise and what a generous and loving birthday gift.  What I can't believe is that everyone knew and kept the secret for several weeks.  Clare was the only one with sense enough to take a picture of the big moment:

 

This was just the start of a wonderful visit.  The next day, on Sunday, we all attended Chris and Clare's ward to participate in Simi's blessing.  She was a little vocal during the actual blessing, but she looked like a princess:

Following church, Clare and Chris hosted all the Reeds and Rossettos at a nice reception at their house where we ate, visited and took  pictures.  Sunday night we ate again and played games at our house.  Liza, Sean and Ashton had to leave Monday to get back to work and school and Emily, Sarah and the two little boys left this morning.  The house is strangely quiet, but filled with wonderful  memories.  Here are a few:

View Full Album

Are they not all fabulous??? 

Thank you, Carl and Heather for hosting the reveal and picking them up at the airport.  Thank you, Eric and Jeremy, for supporting and babysitting.  Thank you Emily and Liza for giving us the surprise of a lifetime.  Thank you, Sarah and Sean for dropping everything to drive to Bakersfield.  And thank you, Chris and Clare, for postponing Simi's blessing (you little liars!) so that we could have a double celebration.  We love you all more than you can imagine!