Surprise!

Yesterday I was working at the shop and a little boy walked in the front door.  I thought to myself that little boy looks an awful lot like Jeremy...then Abbie came in and then Ben... that little boy was Jeremy.  What a surprise and what a great surprise!  I was overwhelmed - I actually screamed.  I was so excited.  Thanks to Pete and Tara's planning and my husband keeping such a secret I enjoyed the rest of the day and all day Sunday with these cute Houston grandchildren.  We were able to throw together a picnic at Canyon Park which included all the Cedarites as well as Laura and Nigel and kids here for the weekend and of course our surprise guests.  The cousins enjoyed themselves - taking dips in the creek and playing together.  We adults had a fun visit which included our usual  "who will play us in the Fontano movie"... I am relieved to hear that I might be played by the gal from Home Alone and Beetlejuice (Kathryn Ohara?) rather than Marie from Everybody Loves Raymond.
The old standards "Kurt Russell for John, Bill Murray for Mike" are still on the list.  New ones included "Mr. Bean for Nigel, possibly Carrie Underwood for Amy, Matt Damon for Dave although some discussion about some new guy from Friends for Dave, and Tom Hanks for Jim"  I am voting Debra from Raymond for Tara but there is some disagreement about that.  Right now I can't remember who it was for Dad but the Mall Cop guy for Jay.  If anyone wants to comment they are welcome to get this all down in writing.  I know I am missing quite a few.
So anyway, after a fun dinner with all the clan we separated to different houses and Laura and Nigel became John's first house guests in his new house while Dad and I sported the Houston kids and their mom at our house.  Jeremy took the couch "shirtless" and Abbie and Ben tried out the blowup beds although I understand Ben spent most of the night with Tara in the guest room.  He did say however that he loved the blow up bed and it was very comfortable.
Sunday we got to church and then laughed watching Jeremy play baseball on the Wii .  Making comments to all of the players and umps decisions...  It was certainly entertaining and very much like seeing his dad in action... Tara tries to blame that all on "Fontano genes" but I am reminding her that it is a 50-50 division there.  Ben is watching Jeremy carefully for tips in behavior as well.  Not a bad thing at all - we enjoyed all three kids so much and it was such a sweet surprise to have them with us for these two days.
I forget that each time Jeremy leaves us or we leave him, it is pretty traumatic for him.  Today, Tara drove off with all three kids crying their eyes out in the back seat.  We were all crying our eyes out as well.
It was a great surprise to have them here - it is always hard to have them go.
I am not forgetting that Laura and Nigel were here as well and it is always fun to have them down.  Shey would like to stay indefinitely and gets pretty miserable as well when it is time to leave.
So all of these cute grandkids we have - what a blessing.  We are so grateful for those who live close-by.  We have missed John's kids this summer and look forward to their return on August 2nd.  We were lucky to have Marien, Clayton and Kathryn here over the 4th.  They are getting so big - it is fun to watch them mature.  Jay and Sara's kids keep us all happy here all the time - this week we watched the twins and Anna while the girls (and Tommy) and their parents had a Harry Potter activity with dinner and a movie!  I hope they had as good a time as we had with the boys and Anna and their dinner of cold spaghettios!
So tonight I am grateful for a great family.  Grandchildren and children alike bring me such joy.  I am still tearful to think that I was able to have such a great surprise.  I was so glad that Laura was here to see her niece and nephew as well.  Tara says they will see the LV cousins this week.  So with the exception of Mike and Liana we covered the bases and I am grateful that family got to mingle a bit.  Perhaps not a complete family reunion but at least a very good time.