Intrigue

Yes, the intriguing part. But I'll provide some background to it first so the reader may have a better understanding as to this surprise birthday party y'all may have caught wind of...

A few weeks ago, Mom and Dad went on this apple cider buying craze, whereupon they bought around maybe 15-20 bottles of that sparkling special stuff one might find at the grocery store, such as Aldi's or maybe Walmart, depending upon the brand. Naturally, I wondered as to the reasoning behind the whole thing, and Dad told me that Mom enjoyed the stuff so they were buying a ton since it only comes out around the Christmas/New Year's season. (I'm still doubtful about the seasonal part of it) It started out that we bought 3-4, then it accumulated more...then some more, and more after that. Naturally, I played the gullible person, because no one can really resist that stuff. ;) But did they stop there with the household items influx? Noo...definitely not. Apparently during the same time period, some wine glasses were purchased with my full knowledge of it being done, albeit me not knowing exactly how many. Grace said they showed me one box just to confirm any suspicions I might have at the time. And, not only that, but when I went to Dad's office with him last week, he intentionally drove to Sam's with me to look at the prices of some tables and chairs. He even asked me to tell Mom the prices!! Goodness, this is almost frustrating looking back on it all...all this information going over my head without me knowing a thing.

Also, after a week or two of arranging, the plan was for me to work at Samaritan Ministries International this past week, including next Monday. We talked with the Candler family and it was decided for me to stay with them while working (that'll be next week's post ;), and since my birthday fell on Tuesday, I was to drive home that evening right after I left SMI to spend the rest of the day with my family. Being the loving son that I am, I also stopped by Starbuck's on the way home and bought Mom and myself iced java chips, me to drink on the way home so as not to fall asleep and Mom to drink when I arrived at the homestead. Oh yes, and that reminds me. Dad, in addition to all the plotting, arranged with my supervisor to basically bar the door to keep me from leaving the building until 4:30 that evening. Yeah, I believe they enjoyed thinking things through beforehand. ;)

As I was driving, I realized that the time was ticking away a little too quickly considering my stop at Starbuck's, so I even brought the speedometer up to "xx" mph!! And in a 55 mph zone later on, to boot! Dad called me a few minutes before I arrived, asking something about me dawdling at Starbuck's and taking up too much time and the food was getting cold, etc., and the entire time he called I kept asking myself why on earth he was telling me all this. But, my unsuspecting self continued in its unsuspecting way. And the phone call didn't help with my speed, either...rather it made me go faster when I was already...er, anyway. The funny part is, I had it all planned out what topics I was to bring up during dinner: the overabundance of rain we received while I was gone, how I repeatedly flashed my brights so everyone would know I was about to turn into our street, and other things I currently forget. But those thoughts slipped my mind later on...

So I turned into our driveway, stopped the car, got out, examined all the stuff I had to bring in, decided to bring all the stuff in later, and walked in with my Mom's java chip, my keys, iPhone, and a W-4 in hand. I opened the door, strolled naturally into the kitchen like always, Dad came towards me saying "hi Ashton!" with a grin on his face, when suddenly from three separate rooms, a total of 38 people overall from the Bandy, Candler, McDonald, and Sanford families jumped out and screamed, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ASHTON!!!"

So you gotta imagine the picture. Here I am, shocked beyond belief, standing there giving a dumb grin with a java chip about to fall over in one hand and a nice ol' W-4 sticking out in the other. Garrison and Tiffany become the paparazzi and snap pictures like crazy, grinning all the while. Mr. McDonald calls out "speech! speech!" and I respond, "hi...um...I'm 19...um...thank you for coming..." and everyone bursts out laughing. They all sing "Happy Birthday," Dad prays over the meal, then everyone scatters to their assigned seating throughout the house. So the evening began. We ate food, played games, and enjoyed the fellowship together. It was quite the evening. ;)

Thank you all for such a wonderful birthday! It's a blessing to know each and every one of you... :)