The Surprise for My Husband

Recently we bought some new laminate flooring for some of the rooms in our home.  I have wanted it for years since our carpet was dirty and worn and couldn't be cleaned well enough to look decent.  My husband was out of town for a few days this last week, so I started to dream up a plan to surprise him and have the living room flooring all done before he returned.  Right after he left, I started moving books out of the bookcases and getting furniture out of the way.  Our two teenage sons were excited about the surprise and I hired my brother-in-law to help. Every time my husband called from Texas, I was careful to avoid "spilling the beans" and I told everyone to stop the construction noise while I ran to the other end of the house and went into the walk-in closet with the door shut to have a quiet place to talk on the phone. 

I loved helping and drilling screws into the particle board--projects are awesome!  Of course, we needed food for energy.  We had "Rich and Cheesy Halibut" (except I used salmon) the first night of the project, and "Magnificent Steak Burritos" the second night.  I really think you will love these recipes. 

My husband was due to arrive home at about noon on Friday.  I was reading in my scriptures this morning and found a verse that fit our situation on Friday perfectly.  It describes tender mercies of the Lord helping to deliver us.  I consider it a tender mercy that one of our sons was home from school that day.  The other students had a career fair, and he had a "get out of school free" card.  We were so close to finishing the project, but we really needed a few more hours.  We worked hard and fast all morning.  I went to give my husband a ride home when he dropped off the rental car, and delayed as long as I could to give my son more time to finish the flooring.  We stopped at a restaurant to find out if they had gluten-free food (which they did and they made their steak/cheese sandwich into a steak/cheese salad...yum!)  and went to the grocery store for a few items.  Our son finished just minutes before we arrived.  My husband was astounded.  He loved it!  It turned out great!  He had absolutely no idea we were doing it.  Aren't surprises awesome?!  :)