Surprise!

Christine and I flew out to Ohio last Wednesday to pay my family a surprise holiday visit.  Our flight arrived kind of late, so instead of going right home and waking people up we stayed at a hotel.  The next morning (after fabulously sleeping way in), we trotted over to my aunt's house.  Pretty much every year since up to the time I moved to Colorado I was at my aunt's house on Thanksgiving morning to help stuff/play with the turkey, so I figured it was an appropriate place to start my surprise.
We parked down the street (so as not to be prematurely spotted) and quietly walked into the kitchen where my uncle was busy cooking.  He was easy to sneak up on because he's hard of hearing, so I tapped him on the shoulder (after making sure he was in no position to drop the stuffing all over the floor) and put my finger too my lips (shhhh) so he wouldn't alert my aunt to my presence.  A few seconds later she walked in the room, screamed and gave me a big hug.

After chatting and having a little breakfast, we went over to my parents' house.  We creeped in the front door and it was strangely quiet.  I looked around every room downstairs, and not even the dog greeted me.  I poked my head in the garage to make sure the other car was still there, and it was.  So I started to walk upstairs and heard the TV on in my mom's room.  I stood there, camera ready, until she turned around to put paper in the printer.

I'd say I gave her a pretty good surprise.  My dad was out running with the dog, and when he returned he was confused by the extra car in the driveway with Michigan plates (my rental).

The rest of the day went pretty well, and Christine got the full effect of the family (and last time I checked she hasn't run away screaming yet).  My family got to meet the "mysterious" Christine, and probe her with all the pertinent questions.  I guess they didn't believe me when I told them she was a meth dealer.  They were also glad to see that she was more than a head and feet (because of the previous pictures they had seen). 

I'm just glad I can stop lieing to my family about my travel plans.  I had been planning on this trip for a few months now, and I had to come up with stories for where I was going to be, and when I'd be coming home.  Now I have time to lie to them about other things.  Any suggestions?