Home Sweet Home

So this past weekend I went home to surprise my family and friends. Nine of us ventured off for British Columbia at 9:00 pm on Thursday night in two cars. The ride down was as one would expect, long and long. I tried to sleep, but only managed to get minimal rest. I was so excited to be going home! Deanna, Gabriel, Daniel, Mike and I drove in one car and as we neared home we started getting very excited. We stopped by Gabe's house to get his car and then he drove Deanna, Daniel and I home. Nobody appeared to be occupying my house at the time so I brought myself upstairs to my now invaded room (Justin apparently took over). I came downstairs to find that my parents re-did the kitchen with hardwood flooring and we got a new fridge and stove. It looks so good! I was quite excited. And my little brother, Benjamin, was watching TV. He came and gave me a confused hug. We (Daniel, Gabe and I) were laughing at him. My parents were apparently at the school watching volleyball so I decided to go and see my sister at her house. So, we went to my sisters house and I walked in the front door and heardher in the kitchen. I ran dancing in singing "hello my family!" and my sister screamed and we both started crying. It was so happy! She was so cute in her bathrobe and she gave me the biggest hug. It was so good to see her. She said I almost gave her a heart attack. Then my neices game with squeals of laughter to hug me. They are so beautiful! And so big! I love them!!! Then I went upstairs to see my nephews. Zachary was being a grumpy pants, but Christpher game out wearing his Canucks Jersey, shorts, and winter boots. Apparently that is his favorite outfit. He was so cute. He looked a little confused, but he allowed me to hug and kiss him and laugh and dance him around. Zachary eventually ungrumpified himself. All it took was coaxing with Christmas Oranges. I missed that family so much! My brother-in-law was also home and he gave me a huge hug too!

Now we faced a dilemma because I wanted to go see my parents, but we were supposed to be having a surprise party for all of our friends the next night so we didn't want to go the school, but I really wanted to see my parents!!! So, we went anyways. I decided that I'd rather see my parents and ruin the surprise than wait because if I happened to run into anyone than they'd still be surprised anyways. So I tracked down my parents. They were watching a volleyball game; my dad was sitting on the bench helping coach and my mom was sitting with my uncle. And I walked into the gym beaming and I waved at my mom. She started crying instantly and I ran to give her a big hug. She was sitting in her chair and she wouldn't stand up so I just knelt down and hugged her. We were both in tears and we made the lady sitting beside us cry too. I love women! Then my dad came around and gave me a hug. My brother happened to be coaching another team on the other side of the gym so I ran over and hugged him to. I'm so glad they were surprised!! I was afraid they would know and then it wouldn't be quite as fun. It was so awesome! That has to have been on of the greatest feelings in all the world. Seeing the joy you can bring someone with a surprise! It was worth the lying and manipulating that it took to keep it a secret.
So on Friday I hung out with my family. My sister, parents and I went shopping to IKEA and bought a whole bunch of Christmas decorations. I spent way too much money, but it was fun and my dorm room will now look fun... I hope. I still have to get a little tree to put the decorations on. We'll see how things go. My sister bought me my grad gift. I got a blanket that is so soft and so warm and so awesome. I'm excited! After that we came home and sat around for a bit. My little brothers are getting so big! They are so tall! I love it! I decided to go and visit Stewart for a minute and so I quickly went to his house for a quick 15 minute visit. It was so good to see his family again. I love his sisters! They are two of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. I definitely missed them. I had to run home to eat dinner with my family and then Sam Tse picked me up for Joel Brons basketball game. Daniel Brouwer came along with us and I made Joel a sign. We got to his game just as they were singing the National Anthem. I wanted to get Joel's attention so I held up my sign which read
"Joel Bron

You = My Hero

I love you"

Joel soon found the sign and got all excited and happy, but then he looked closer because he didn't know who was holding it. He started squinting, as Joel tends to do because he is visually impaired and too stubborn to get glasses, and leaning forward in an attempt to focus on our faces. He eventually realized that we were us and he got all giddy on the bench - clapping and bouncing a little bit. It was so cute! I wanted to run up and hug him right then and there. The game went on as most games do... CBC lost... and then Joel came and gave us all hugs. I was so happy to see him! I love him and missed him so much and ... oh Joel Bron is amazing and handsome and excellent... he's also four up right now, but I plan on increasing the difference. He showered and changed and gave us a tour of his dorm (no girls allowed... sneaky sneaky) and then we went to visit Brandsma for a couple minutes. We talked about the same old... basketball. Brandsma talked about what could have been and yadda yadda yadda. I was so tired that I wanted to leave, but Joel wasn't done yet so we went to Timmy Ho's and ate some donuts. It was good times, but I was about to pass out by the time I got home.

On Saturday I managed to sleep in until 9:00am. I hung out with my mom for a bit and then I called Stewart because he'd called me early in the morning. He came over and then we went to Mrs. Visschers house. I walked in through the garage door and it took Vissch a second to realize that I actually wasn't supposed to be there, but she came flying at me as soon as she did. Then I played with her daughter Camryn for a long time because it was Ethan's party so he was preoccupied. Aww... it was so good to see her! Then Stewart brought me to Super Store because my mom was there shopping and then I hung out with her more and we did some more shopping. When we got home we just lazed around and there was a fire so I sat infront of it. At 7:30 Vissch came and we went to Tim Hortons for coffee and we talked about the Philipines and missions and it was so fun.

Oh yeah! Saturday night I went to Jeffrey Gerbers house for a party. That was so much fun! It was good to see a bunch of my friends again! Except Tamlin Cooper decided to not show up! I was very sad! But I still managed to enjoy myself.

Sunday... Sunday was good, but sad. My whole family came over after church! It was so much fun! We had to leave for edmonton earlier than expected though so I didn't get to spend much time with them. I left at 2:30 when I thought I'd have the whole evening with them. That was very disappointing. I love my family though!! We took pictures of us kids and it was an absolute gong show! Always is. So much fun! Umm... When I left a couple of my friends had come to say goodbye and some of the people I was driving home with were there so they all just stood there while I cried and said bye to my family. I broke down after hugging the first person and I had like 18 to go! Shoot! There is no better feeling than having people surround you while you're crying. I was hugging my brother Jonathan when I broke down and then three of my other brothers all hugged me at the same time so I was surrounded by these big guys and it was good to be home. I'd missed those hugs. Oh man, I was so sad! I miss them so much already!