The greatest surprise!

Last weekend... well I guess it was the weekend before last... I got the greatest surprise.

Ryan was being all vague about why we weren't going to be having dinner with some friends who had invited us over on that Friday night. I just thought he didn't want to go for some reason, which was weird. Then he told me on that Friday morning that the thought the girl I'm going to be mentoring was going to be coming over around lunch time. I again thought it was weird that he had arranged our first meeting, but wasn't overly concerned. It's just that this was the end of my first week of teaching those sweet 3 yr olds and our house had kind of gotten out of control. I did mention to him that maybe today wasn't the best day and he said he would talk to her and find out for sure if she was coming. At 11:00 he called and said she would definitely be there around 1:00. I'll be honest, I didn't have the greatest attitude about it. But I prayed and asked the Lord for a little grace to get things done that needed to be done before company showed up. He came through big time! About 30 minutes later, Eva told me she was tired and ready to take a nap. So I put her down and then Eli was sleepy so I put him down as well. That left me with an hour and a half to straighten up. That seems like plenty of time, but you have no idea the mound of dishes that were in our sink! :) I'm just being real here, folks. I worked like mad and got everything looking pretty decent and then I heard a knock on the door right at 1:00.

I went to the door and the first thing I notice was this little car seat on my front porch. All I could see were baby legs sticking out from behind a sign that said "Hi Aunt Haley". I was like what?!? I mean I don't have any biological nieces or nephews. Apparently the visitors thought it was too quiet for too long so they popped up from their hiding place. This is who I saw:

Pamela, Me, and Beth

I was so excited that I cried! I had seen these girls in a whole year and I guess they must have known how much I needed some friends about now. I've been going through some loneliness lately and have just been craving friends that I already know. The kind that it's always comfortable and there's never a shortage of things to talk about. The kind of friends that could care less if my house isn't clean. These two girls are those kind of friends.

Apparently they had been planning this little surprise trip behind my back with the help of my husband for quite some time. It was the greatest surprise I've had since finding out I was pregnant with Eli. :)

This Pam with her little cutie pie Lois. This sweet friend endured almost 3 hours of flight time with a wiggly 9 month old so that I could meet Lois for the first time. I'm so glad I finally got the chance.

Beth came solo so she got some good cuddle time with Eli. I think she was missing her own set of healthy cheeks back at home. :)

Lois is investigating Eli. And he's trying to lift that big ole' head up to investigate right back.

For you college friends, yes, I still have my ugly gray ARMY t-shirt. It's just so darn comfortable!

One last little group photo before Beth had to catch a red-eye the next morning at some crazy hour.

We had such a fun time. We laughed so hard we cried a few times. Enjoyed some s'mores outside on the deck and got to see a chick flick.

Thank you girls so much for coming. I love you both so much!