Christmas Visit

Back in December Angel and I were missing each other quite a bit and not liking the waiting and being apart. Well, his birthday is December 22 and a crazy idea popped into my mind one day. I could go surprise him on his birthday! It started out as just a daydream thinking what he would do if I randomly picked him up from work like I usually did when I was there, or if I showed up at church or something.

This was his first reaction when he saw me :)

I'd never done anything like that before, and especially not anything as crazy as randomly showing up in a foreign country without him knowing I'd be coming. It sounded crazy but every time I thought about it I just started to cry. It would be AWESOME!

His second reacion ;)

So...I mentioned it to a coworker and she thought it would be a great idea. My parents were totally for it as well, so now the only concern I had was getting work off to go. I was, and currently am, working as a nurse for Access Home Care and Hospice, and knew it would be hard to get work off for Christmas. Through some miracle, when I got my schedule I had 5 days off in a row right over when I wanted to go, and I easily got a few more changed around so I could go. I booked the flight, then for the next 3 weeks the hardest thing was not saying anything to Angel. We talk everyday on Skype and on some occasions I almost gave it away, or would smile so big I had to hide myself from the camera so I wouldn't give it away. Haha, he had NO IDEA!

We decided to tell him I was sending a Christmas/Birthday package and he kept trying to get me to tell him what I was sending. I told him the usual; chocolate, beef jerky (his favorite), licorice, etc. but then my mom told him there was a big surprise he was going to love. He bugged me relentlessly but I was strong and didn't give it away :) Luckily he still thought it was something in the package so it wasn't hard.

Eating lunch one day on a lake 

I got to El Salvador on the 21st and had some friends from his ward pick me up from the airport. We then went to the mission home, where we usually send packages to, and had them call him to tell him his package was there. Addresses in his country are kinda hard to find and sending it to the mission home is usually more reliable. Well, he was close by and said he'd come right away to pick it up. He showed up and the elders in the office gave him one of my suitcases and told him that was his package. He was confused, obviously, and told them it must belong to an elder going home. They assured him it was his so he started looking through it, not even thinking it could possibly be me, hehe.

Us buying souvenirs for my family

He pulled out my passport from a side pocket, and STILL had no idea!! I decided this was a good idea to come out, so I came up behind him and touched his shoulder. He turned around and just stared for a few seconds, then put his face in his hands for a few more seconds, which felt like HOURS. I said a measly "happy birthday", then he finally said "Neettttiiieeee". He grabbed me and gave me the best hug I've ever had in my life! (No kisses, he told me later he didn't want to make the elders jealous, haha).

Him dropping me off at the airport

The whole week was awesome! We went to the beach, ate good food, and just spent time together. Definitely the best way to spend Christmas!