A surprise visit to Minneapolis - November 25-28, 2014

Way back in September, I bought a roundtrip ticket to Minneapolis to help celebrate my nephew John Gregory's 1st birthday; he was having a birthday party on his actual birthday, November 26th. The only thing was, my brother and sister-in-law had no idea I was coming! I planned this whole thing with my mom, and she was the only one who was in on it with me! It was my plan to knock on their door on the day of my nephew's birthday, and knock their socks off!

I flew into Minneapolis after work on the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, and we took off right in front of our apartment! Being my mom was the only one who knew about my visit, we got a hotel near the airport for Tuesday night being my flight was getting in so late. Usually on visits to the cities I would have my brother come pick me up, but I wasn't about to spoil the biggest secret I've ever had to keep!

Wednesday morning I woke up to snow falling from the sky, and it reminded me why we decided to move south. The roads were terrible and it took us forever to just get down the street! We had a lot of time to kill as the Kasper's had errands to run  and wouldn't be home until mid-afternoon. Our hotel was right by the Mall of America, so we had breakfast at IHOP, then shopped at the Mall for a couple hours. The Mall was predictably quiet being it was the day before Thanksgiving, so we had a relaxing experience! We bought a few things, and then headed to Johnny and Maura's.

My first idea was to go ring their doorbell and be like, "hey ,I heard there was a party here tonight!" But my mom ended up going in first to get the hugs in, and then I came in 2 minutes later . It turned out that Johnny was putting JG down for a nap and Maura was upstairs. Maura's sister was in the kitchen when I came in, and she was trying to get Johnny in the kitchen as well for the surprise. So, he finally came in, saw me, and stopped dead in his tracks! The reaction was just what I was hoping for! Maura came down shortly after and was just as equally surprised to see me! When JG woke up from his nap, I scooped him up and was greeted with a big smile!! It was the perfect way to start the celebrations!

A few hours later everyone else showed up and the celebration was under way for JG's 1st birthday! I got the honor of feeding him his birthday dinner!! He is eating small portions of solid, yet soft food, and I'm pretty sure eating is his favorite activity! After a really great taco bar for the adults, it was time for cake! My mom made the cutest elephant cake, but JG wasn't so sure of it. When Johnny and Maura put a piece on his tray, he started poking it with one finger instead of diving right in with his whole fist. When he finally tasted it, I think he was overcome with sweetness! The look on his face was priceless!

 After cake, we gathered around to watch him open presents! Despite the cool toys he got, I think he was more interested in the wrapping paper and ribbons!

Johnny surprised Maura and JG with a picture DVD of JG's first year. I was overcome with emotion while watching it and had to wipe away tears throughout! After, JG showed off how he can crawl up the stairs!! JG is a ninja!! Also, throughout the night I was reminded how lucky I am to have a nephew like JG, and how proud I am of my big brother and sister-in-law! I love them all so much!

After everyone left for the night, Johnny's good friend from high school, and JG's Godfather, Mike came over for a while. I hadn't seen him since Johnny and Maura's wedding, so it was good to catch up with him.

Thursday was Thanksgiving, and I woke up to the pitter-patter of JG crawling around on the floor. I forgot how cute kids are when they have mastered the art of crawling! He can also walk with assistance, and you can click HERE for the video! JG and I watched the Thanksgiving Day parade, and he was particularly excited to see Santa at the end. He waved at the TV at the sight of him. He is going to grow up to love all things Christmas, just like his daddy!

While we were waiting on the final preparations of dinner, JG put on a concert for his Uncle Robbie, who couldn't make it this time around. JG played piano, sang, and danced! Well done! Uncle Robbie is proud!!

Shortly after, it was time to eat our Thanksgiving feast! The dining room table looked festive, and all the food on it looked amazing! The only missing piece was Robbie! We all missed him throughout the weekend!! :( JG ate little pieces of turkey, stuffing, and green beans! He is a great eater! I had a lot to be thankful for this year! As I looked around the table, I was amazed at all the love that was there!

While letting my food digest, I watched the Badgers basketball team beat Georgetown in their Thanksgiving tournament, the Battle for Atlantis.They would eventually win the whole tournament the next day, beating Oklahoma! It's going to be another fun year to be a Badger fan! That evening, I helped give JG a bath, one of his other favorite activities, next to eating!

On Thanksgiving night, we celebrated my mom's birthday, being her big day was that Saturday. I had a few presents for her, and so did Johnny. She was happy to receive the new Neil Diamond album, a nice bottle of Disaronna Amaretto, an extra long package of Twizzlers, some Hershey Kisses ornaments, and a pair of earrings!

I also planned ahead and bought Christmas gifts for Johnny, Maura, JG, and mom, and brought them with me. I initially was going to leave them for Christmas, but wanted to be there when they opened them, so we had a mini Christmas celebration as well! We bought Johnny, Maura, and mom some witty coffee table books, a burger cookbook for Johnny, a box of cocktail flavored Jelly Belly's for Maura, snowman salt and pepper shakers for mom, a fancy shirt and tie bib for JG, and also a lullaby CD for JG as well! It was a fun night with lots of good laughs and conversation!

JG was my wake-up call again on Friday morning, and I had a 6am playdate with him. I wasn't even the least bit mad that it was only 4am Vegas time! :) Little kids don't care what time of day it it, they just want to play! Later that morning, we helped Johnny start decorating for Christmas, and then it was time for me to leave already!

It was especially hard to leave Minnesota this time around! I was soo happy to have surprised Johnny and Maura for JG's first birthday celebration, and to have been there for Thanksgiving festivities! I am always in such awe at the development and growth of JG, and I cannot say enough about it!

I had a 4:05pm flight back to Vegas, and the whole way back, I had a great view of the sunset after we flew above and out of the MN cold! The best part of it happened over the Rockies, where I was glued to the window! And while I wasn't gawking at the sunset, I was looking through the pictures I took over the week, and I was again wiping away tears in complete happiness! As an extra bonus, we landed right in front of our apartment again! Sweet!

Until next time, Minneapolis!

"The family is one of nature's masterpieces. -George Santayana