SUUUURPRISE!

Really, I don't think there's too much more that needs to be said. 

We flew into Atlanta last week to help surprise Abby for her birthday.  Let me just say, this was one well executed plan (well done, Wade!!!); she simply had no idea that something special was in the works.  We had so-much-fun keeping it a secret and getting ourselves to Atlanta.  I'm pretty sure it was as much fun for us as it was for her.  This picture says it all. 

Abby, Wade and cousin Mark. 
She's really surprised, but she still hasn't seen Aaron yet! 
That took it to a whole other level.  ...cue the Kleenex.

So the birthday was Tuesday and that left us with the rest of the week to fill up.  We had the priveledge of meeting and staying with Henry Barr, the new puppy dog.  He's a very nice little guy and it was great being in a house with a dog for a change.  Sadly, he only entertained me with one game of fetch. 

Generally Henry looks happier than this picture depicts.
He's cute, hops around like a bunny and is fuzzy. 
Thumbs up from me!

The other really fabulous highlight of the trip was spending the afternoon with Mitchell.  He and Aaron are just alike.  We played Apples To Apples for HOURS. As we were playing Mitchell made sound effects (I'm pretty sure he has no idea he's doing it), which reminded me of Aaron who does that all the time.  They are their own sound tracks.  

Aaron and his look-alike, Mitchell.

During our last visit to Atlanta the Carter Center was being remodeled.  We have an uncanny ability to visit presidential museums right before they are remodeled.  Then I feel compelled to visit again to see the new and improved version.  I don't really recommend this as the way to go... better to just see the updated versions!  Let's just say now that we'd like to go to the Hoover museum in Iowa.  Maybe just by saying that it'll inspire the Library of Congress to go ahead and update it now so it's ready for our visit.

We've toured the Carter Center before and I remember my knee jerk reaction being that it felt "dark and dated" and just wasn't as good as other presidential museums.  I can now report that has been fixed!  The new museum is AMAZING!!  We really only studied the first half of it.  I can't wait to go back and walk through the second half (the post-presidential part).

Also worth noting - the grounds are beautiful.  We'll explore those more when it's not 102 degrees outside.  We posed for this shot but our faces practically sizzled as we stood there.

This is what Anner and Aaron look like when they are roasting. 

Finally, after seven years of waiting I got to taste Papa Barr's infamous made-with-a-secret-ingredient-french-toast.  It was delicious, in a sweet vanilla kind of way. 

The infamous french toast and Joel.

Now Aaron's back to work and I head in tomorrow.  Luckily we have family visiting in a few weeks and we're just 31 days away from our Funtown, WI vacation.  There's lots to look forward to this summer and we can't wait!