Surprises

Let me tell you, it's hard to keep presents from your husband. You have the problem of the price and description showing up on your bank statement, ordering it and hoping it arrives when he's not home (didn't happen), and hiding it away before he can open it. Not to mention, he badgered me to give it to him early. I was only able to accomplish the former... plus a little more. So on Saturday, I decided that since the smarty pants figured out what I got him (a disc golf bag), I would send him on a scavenger hunt to find it. I also took pictures for your enjoyment. :)

Disclaimer: the clues are cheesy. I made them up in a very small amount of time. Also, they rhyme (Mitch didn't figure this out until I told him.)

muhaha! I put the old bag he was using to hold his discs in the box. Inside was a clue. It read something like this:
'Ha! You thought you had me figured out!
Start looking where instruments of manuel operation are about.'

So he went to what we call the 'tool room'. Right now he's cold. 

Warmer...

Bingo!

Clue #2:
'That was an easy one.
You figured it out fast.
So here's another clue,
Look for what cuts the grass.'

I had to speed the process along and tell him it wasn't the lawn mower.
It was in the weed eater.

Clue #3:
'Woohoo! Hurray! Good Job! Way to go!
You're getting closer to the goal.
The next clue can be found
In the front yard, close to a pole.'

 He found this one pretty quick with no help from me.

 Clue #4:
'You can take me to a park for a thrill.
It will be so much fun.
If you want to strap with on, look in the _____.'
*hint: what rhymes with thrill?

GRILL!

Sportin' it. What a cutie!

And he has plenty of room to add more discs. 

I had to add another surprise that he would actually get on his birthday. Since he doesn't like cake, I made him grape salad which he LOVES. So I'm going to share the recipe with y'all! And of course there are some visual aids.

Ingredients:

4 cups red grapes
4 cups green grapes
8 oz cream cheese
9 oz sour cream
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Mix all ingredients except for grapes and pecans in a bowl.

Then add the grapes.

Pour in serving dish and top with pecans.

Delicious!

I added a note and told Mitch to look in the fridge when he got home. He seemed just as excited about the grape salad as he did the bag.

Here's to many more birthdays to celebrate together! Hopefully, I'll get better at surprises along the way. :)

Celebrating (#5 & #12)

And it's back to "normal" life for the Browns. We have returned from a much needed vacation in Gatlinburg, TN. Here is a recap of pictures of our celebrations.

Old news, but our one year anniversary was July 16th. This was the yummy cake topper.

We are hard core.

June... she's da baste.

And Mitch got me earrings!

Fast forward to August 5th. We got to stop in Chattanooga, TN to attend Stephanie and Andrew Randall's wedding. It was so wonderful to see these two united! They are wonderful!

 And we took a picture to parallel the picture we took at our wedding. :)

Stephanie also has 7 other brothers and sisters who are just as amazing! We haven't all been together in about 9 years, and the love hasn't gone anywhere. These pictures truly are special!

On our first day of our vacation in Gatlinburg, we went to Cades Cove. We packed some sandwiches (along with other snacks to keep Mitch from getting hungry :), and found this beautiful spot to have a picnic. 

And saw lots of turkeys. We call this big guy "Tom".

I kept an eye on Groupon for the Knoxville and Chattanooga area and was able to score 54 holes (3 rounds) of putt putt golf at Old McDonald's Farm for $16 total. We took it very seriously.

 We were also able to buy an "Adventure Pack" that included 2 more rounds of putt putt golf, laser tag, horseback riding, and zip lining. This is us awaiting the many adventures that were about to be had.

Feeling comfy on ol' Doc.

 Sally, Mitch's horse. She wanted to nibble the whole time.

Unfortunately, we had to leave the camera in the car for zip lining. And purchasing the pictures taken by the park was just a little pricey. Just believe me when I say we did it. We did a 7-line course, the longest line being 2000 feet long (and REALLY high up). 

 I also found a Groupon for tubing for the two of us for $12. We also didn't take the camera because water isn't very good to electronics apparently. So again, believe me, we went tubing and it was fun. :)

Just around the corner from our resort was a disc golf course. It just so happened that Mitch brought his discs. 

 And then we enjoyed a nice steak dinner at The Peddler.  

It was so great getting away, just the two of us. Now we're gearing up for Mitch's LAST semester as a student (hallelujah!)! More things to celebrate! And all this just makes us realize even more how blessed we are. God gives out His favor so freely!