Operation Stealth

The pastor (Dad) and I had been cooking up a surprise for the rest of the fam for months... code word.. "Operation Stealth".  You see, my little brother is a rockstar, and although he is smart, funny, plays the piano, runs cross country, plays soccer, sings in the chorus...his real talent lies in the theater.  A talent that the rest of our family missed out on... my brief dabble in the dramatic arts was a complete debacle and ended with me leaving the stage in the MIDDLE of my performance...another story for another day, or just ask one of my family members, they would be more than happy to share it.  Nonetheless, a couple months ago, Matthew was selected to play not only a part, but the LEAD in the middle school play.  The musical was Willy Wonka Jr... and he was of course, Willy Wonka.  Like I said, total rockstar.  So, in order that I not miss yet another of little Matthew's boyhood milestones, Dad and I planned for me to travel in that weekend and surprise Mom, Ashley, and Buddy..  SURPRISE!

Heather and Aimee picked me up at the airport late Friday night.  Dad couldn't think of a good reason to get out of the house that late on a Friday, so these two benevolently gave up their Friday evening to come get me!  Not to mention that Heather was 36 weeks preggo at the time...  Mom was already in the bedroom getting ready for bed, so I nonchalantly walked back there and scared the heck out of her;  Little Matthew's reaction was not quite as dramatic.  We couldn't think of a good way to get Ashley over to the house, so Dad thought it would be a good idea to just call her and tell her that he and mom needed to talk to her...barely slipping it in that there was nothing wrong.  Poor Ash said the whole way over she was convinced that one or both of our parents had been diagnosed with a terminal illness...Note to parents, when you say nothing is wrong, we automatically think that something is wrong... Anyway, Ash's reaction was pretty great as well...I hadn't see her or Buddy since June.  Overdue.

Thanks friends for coming to pick me up!

Celebrating Ash's birthday...a couple weeks late, Whoops.

Mom, Ash and I spent Saturday morning at a Parade of Homes in Brentwood, then off to lunch at Puffy Muffin.  Mimi and Papaw got in in the afternoon and we all hung out watching football until dinnertime, which was pulled chicken from Hog Heaven... yum.  The play was that night, so we headed out early to make sure that we got good seats.  We got there early enough that I had time to peruse the hallways of my old stomping grounds with quite enough nostalgia :) 

Who doesn't want to forever be immortalized in the hallways of their high school?  Especially with a picture that doesn't even look remotely like your current self. 

Thanks to this Lipscomb Tradition... that picture is there to stay!

The play started with Matthew walking down the aisle of the theater singing a solo.  How he can sing in front of that many people alone, I will never understand.  I think I was more nervous than he was!  He was FANTASTIC.  I could not have been more proud of him.  He was by FAR the best one on the stage, maybe I'm biased, but multiple people came up to us after the show to tell us how much of a natural he was.  I kept leaning over to Dad during the show saying, "I never knew he could sing!"  So glad that I was able to come and support him even though I live 800 miles away.  Way to go Buddy!  Who knew you had it in you?! 

Coming soon, pics and a post from our impromptu trip to Bham!