SURPRISE

A few months ago I decided what I wanted to do for John's 40th birthday. I wanted to take him to a Celtics game...where ever it was. It just so happened that the weekend before his birthday, they were playing the Chicago Bulls in Chicago. John went to Optometry school in Chicago and loved it, but hadn't been back since. I thought it must have been meant to be! I contacted his best friend from Optometry school and his wife and asked if by any chance they might be able to meet us (they live 6 hours outside of Chicago). I was so happy when they said YES! My plan was in motion!

Luckily, John had a 3 day weekend for work anyway - so I managed to keep it a secret (he also doesn't handle any of our finances - so he didn't know what I was spending and when).

Friday night started like any other - he came home from work and I left to go help with our church youth sport program. However, I came home early and told him that I had plans for his birthday and we were leaving at 6am! He had no clue where we were going. I packed his bag for him and when we arrived at the airport, my friend Kim was on our same flight which threw John off even more!! When we touched down in Minneapolis for a short layover - he found out and was excited - but there were more surprises to come! When we arrived in Chicago - I told him a shuttle was coming to pick us up. As we were walking out - his friend jumped from behind him to surprise him AGAIN! They were our ride! We had such a fun time with them at dinner and catching up. They are wonderful people, and I wish that we lived closer to them. After dinner - I asked John what he wanted to do next - then I handed him our tickets to the Bulls vs. Celtics. Our seats were amazing and we had so much fun. After the game - we walked the streets downtown and had dessert and laughed until we cried. We said goodbye to the Birdsongs. Im so thankful they could be part of John's special weekend.

The next day we walked and walked and walked all around. It was so fun to explore and see the beautiful city of Chicago. I loved it! We ate some yummy food (I got to experience my first real deep-dish pizza), and saw some great attractions.

We took the L to the airport Monday morning and headed back home to our girls. It was a whirlwind trip - but we made great memories.