A Wonderful Surprise!!!

I have been waiting for this day for so long! Hayley and my mom's Birthdays were on August 22nd. For Hayley's Birthday, I got her a trip for us to go and visit our best friend Shannon! Growing up, we lived on La Jolla Dr. in Tempe for 20 years! It was wonderful. And for 20 years, Shannon lived across the street. It was great to have a friend to always play with. Just about every minute growing up, when we weren't in school, we spent with Shannon. It was a great blessing to have her there. A couple years ago, Shannon moved to Southern California. She met Jeff and they were married in April 2007. On August 3,2008, Jack Elias Dement was born. Hayley and I weren't able to be there, but he arrived safely. So, it was finally our day to go and see Shannon and Jack...the best part is, Shannon didn't know we were coming! We got up and took the first flight to California.

Hayley and me on the airplane!



We rented a car and drove to Shannon's house. I was excited and nervous the entire trip. We pulled into the parking lot of Shannon's condo and then Hayley got nervous too! We walked up the stairs and could hear her inside. We walked up to the door and were greeted with, "What are you guys doing here?" It was a success! Thank you Jeff for keeping it all a surprise and for helping us with directions. Shannon got ready, Hayley changed Jack, and I got an outfit for him to wear. Then we had a little photo session with him. Here is what we did.














Jeff's parents were so nice to come and stay with Jack so we could go off with Shannon. We went down to Balboa. We walked out on the pier, went into some surf shops, and walked around.





Hayley was especially impressed with all the locals painting the scenery. It really was amazing. We went into an arcade that Shannon would go to on her summer vacations and played some skeeball. It was a lot of fun. Hayley and Shannon did all of the winning! Good job guys. We went back to the car and were off to Fashion Island. We roamed around through some stored and had lunch at Wahoo's Fish Tacos. We took a short break and went back to check on Jack. But we were off again to Downtown Disney which Hayley had never seen before.



We watched all the people, went through some stores, and met up with Shannon's husband, Jeff. We were running out of time and headed to Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Next to Cheesecake is a Bubba Gump Restaurant. Where we took this picture.



At Cheesecake Factory, we ate and for dessert, Jeff was nice enough to tell them it was Hayley's Birthday and they (we) all sang to her...so sweet.



Then it was time to say good-bye. Our fun day was over. We said our good-byes and headed to the airport. It was such a fun day.



Thank you Shannon for letting us come and see Jack and for being surprised. Thank you Jeff for keeping the surprise and getting us to your house safely. Thank you to Jeff's parents for watching Jack and letting us enjoy the day. Thank you Tim and Tyler for watching the kids so we could have a day to play. So many wonderful memories and such a great day. Next time...we are going to Disneyland!