Several weeks ago our daughter Dawnmarie called me to arrange a surprise visit to Colorado Springs this week. My wife and I both have birthdays next week so this was to be our birthday present. Surprise visits are almost a hallmark in our family. Some examples include:

• Before we moved to Germany in 1972 we paid a surprise visit to Idaho to spend Christmas with my folks.
• Our oldest daughter announced over the phone from college that she was getting married, we drove from Ohio to Utah (straight through the night) to help get some wedding arrangements made. The daughter was astounded to wake up and find us in her apartment!

• While we were living in Japan, I arranged for our son and daughter to make a surprise visit to Japan for a week or so (the surprise on Nina’s face when these kids came up the stairs was priceless).
• There are numerous "local" surprise visits, just to make life interesting, such as last Thanksgiving when one of our sons showed up on the doorstep looking for a bite to eat.

So arranging for our daughter to come out for the week as a surprise visit is kind of a normal thing. The unusual part was that her husband, who is a real gem, was quite happy to spend the week at home watching the kids while our daughter came out. He teaches at a college and this week is Spring Break, so he didn’t have to take any extra vacation. However, with four very active kids under the age of seven, he definitely had his hands full. What a guy!

Dawnmarie and I made the arrangements. Rather than have her spend money on an airplane ticket, I used my frequent flier miles to get her here. That would allow her a little more financial freedom in the matter. We had a few other phone conversations getting things arranged and were quite happy with the impending surprise visit.

But, I forgot one important thing. Because I used my frequent flier miles, Northwest mailed a confirmation to my home address. Nina saw this strange thing from Northwest, stripped off the perforations, opened up the envelope, and saw the travel schedule. She tried to figure out how to glue the perforations back on the notice, had no luck at all, and finally gave up. She then told me that she knew Dawnmarie was coming out.

After some discussion, we decided to turn the tables. I wouldn’t say anything to Dawnmarie letting her continue to think that she was the "Surpriser" and that Nina was the "Surprisee." Rather than have Dawnmarie take a taxi from the airport and just walk into the house unexpectedly, I would pick her up at the airport. Nina would come with me, and while we were waiting at baggage claim, spring the reverse surprise.

It worked. Dawnmarie’s flight was to arrive on Sunday evening a little after 10 p.m. We got to the airport about 9:30 to find her flight was delayed by about 25 minutes. We waited until the airplane arrived and the passengers started coming off the plane. Nina went down by baggage claim and became inconspicuous. I met Dawnmarie at the security checkpoint and we went downstairs to baggage claim. She was so excited to be here and was looking forward to a very relaxing week. As the bags were coming out on the conveyor belt, Nina walked up behind Dawnmarie and tapped her on the shoulder. Her shriek of surprise was just delightful. They hugged and danced around the baggage claim area. The tables had been well turned.

Dawnmarie flies back home this afternoon. We’ve had a very nice week with her here. She got a lot of sewing done, some shopping completed, spent a day in Denver with Nina and Jared, took a couple of naps, and is ready to get back home with the husband and kids. It was indeed a very welcome visit.