Tears of Joy

My dad made me cry today.

Back up to yesterday.

I got a birthday package from my dear friend, Selina. She is sweeter than the gummi bears she included with the gift. I miss her so.

Tye also had a FANTASTIC report from his teacher at his conference last night. He is well above average in math and reading and just doing well all around.

I taught a class last night that went really well, too.

I woke up to a nice size tax return in our bank account this morning. The day started off well. Bodie and I went to his Kindergarten prep class. He was a good hard worker, so I promised him a treat. Since we go the return, I figured we could splurge and get a toy at Walmart. And with Tye's good report, he deserved a reward too (he has the day off today for conferences).

We headed off to Walmart where Bodie picked out a Skate Freaks by Hot Wheels toy, his new favorite obsession. Tye decided on a gameboy game. So to electronics we go. Lo and Behold- they had a Nintendo Wii in stock. At Christmas, the boys had both asked for one. I knew they were just too hard to come by for Christmas, so I told them at tax-time if we found one, we would get it. Time to pay up on that promise. We came home with a Wii.

John and I both wanted the Wii, too. Especially since it will play Gamecube games and we have lots of those. It will be well loved in our house I'm sure.

After stopping to have lunch with John we headed home to hook up our new purchase. On the way, I was making a mental list of all the bills we want to pay off with the tax return. I was really hoping to also get a new camera, a Nikon D40 I have had my eye on. But as I added up the bills, the dream of the new camera was quickly fading away. I figured I would have to wait until April at the earliest.

When we got home, there was a box on our doorstep. Tye told me it was for me from Ritz Camera. I hadn't ordered anything, although I did sign up for a contest last month they had on their site to win a camera...

I opened the box and there was a new Nikon D40 sent from my Dad and step mom, Lisa!

I cried tears of joy (which kind of freaked out the boys). I don't think I have cried tears of joy since I had my boys. I called my dad and thanked him profusely, through tears. I still can't get over it. It means the world to me that they not only got me the camera, but think I really can make something of this passion I have for photography. It really is one of the nicest things anybody has ever done for me. Here is a picture of them.

Thanks again, Dad and Lisa. I love you!