The Surprise

Morgan here.

I thought I’d take a minute (or thirty) to explain how and why we are going to Ireland. Like the first post mentioned, it’s been a dream of ours for a very long time. Really, we have talked about it for as long as I can remember. But it’s always been the kind of talk that revolves around winning the lottery. Not something that was ever going to really happen but it is always fun to talk about.

As a lot of our family and friends know, Gram has spent many hours researching our family history. She has binders FULL of information. I could call her right now and ask her a random question about some family member from multiple generations back and she’d either know the answer offhand or be able to find it within minutes. She has tracked our family back to Ireland, down to the exact location in some cases. We will actually be visiting an area where the family owned a dairy farm! At least I think it was a dairy farm. She will correct me if I am wrong.

So anyway, I got this crazy idea in my head that if I saved up enough money for a long enough time, I could take my two favorite people on the adventure of a lifetime. I started putting every extra cent I had away. I’m not going to tell you how long it took me or how difficult it was not to go on a crazy shopping spree. Finally, I had the money saved up. I started talking to AJ (my husband for anyone who reads this that doesn’t know my family) about how I wanted to plan the trip. Did I want to go thro ugh a travel agency? Did I want to plan it all out myself? Or did I just want to tell them that we were going and plan our trip with their input and help? We decided that it would be the most fun and have the most meaning if my mom and grandma got to help with the details. Plus, it was VERY overwhelming trying to do it myself and I was so worried about missing something that they would want to do and then disappoint them. I was also worried about the fact that maybe this was just a pipe dream for them and they wouldn’t truly want to actually go when presented with the opportunity. I can’t tell you how many times I asked AJ his opinion on the matter. Every time I asked, his answer was the same. “They are going to love it and you are going to make them cry.”

I started piecing the gift together. I made pages filled with hints and photos and each page got them a little bit closer to uncovering Ireland. The pages were separated from each other with a pretty piece of decorative paper so they couldn’t skip ahead. I finished with the present mid-October. I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to wait until Christmas to give this present to them. I was hoping to wait until Thanksgiving.

I think I made it a week and a half after the present was finished. My grandma was in town and I couldn’t help myself. I HAD TO GIVE THEM THE PRESENT.

First, they uncovered that we were taking a trip. Second, they got to uncover a list of items they needed. The last item on that list was a passport. At that point, they both freaked a little bit. I think that, up until this point, the adventure wasn’t as real or relevant to them. And then, holy shit! We are leaving the country?!?! So after that, they were both crying and they barely got through the next page. This page was them reading the random facts that I had amassed about Ireland but they still hadn’t gotten to the big reveal. When they did, they lost it. Hands down, the moment when they pulled the ‘Ireland’ paper out of the envelope is a moment is one I will never forget. Tears and hugs and laughter all around. Oh! I forgot to mention that they unwrapped this present in front of a bunch of our family. And I’m pretty sure that everyone in the room (that wasn’t my mom or gram) knew what the gift was. They were all just as excited as I was for the surprise.

It was fantastic. I’m pretty sure we have a video of the whole experience if anyone is interested in seeing it. Comment and let me know – it can be a special post.