The "Annunciation"

Although we had just the confirmation of two positive home pregnancy tests, we decided to go ahead and tell Ariel's family about the baby on Christmas morning when everyone was together. The reaction was priceless, as you can see in this little video--lots of laughter and crying. This will be JoAnn's first "biological" grandchild, and she is hoping that it will look a lot like her. And needless to say, all of the sisters are already convinced that we're having a girl.

We called Adam's family later that afternoon to clue them in on the good news. His mom declared that this was the best Christmas present we could have ever given her. Adam's dad, still in shock, just said, "I'm not old enough to be a grandpa!" (He seems much more excited now.) It took Adam's Mamaw (his maternal grandmother) a few minutes to figure out exactly how she was about to become a great-grandmother ... but it came to her when she was reminded that she only has one grandson!

Ariel's father David had a little more time to get over the initial "grandpa" shock. Last June, we visited Dad and Doria at the ranch in Texas. As Dad and I talked early one morning, I mentioned how excited our kids would be to visit Grandpa's ranch one day, just as I used to be to visit Boompa's cabin in Lake Tahoe when I was a little girl. He was a little startled by the suggestion that those days weren't too far off, but when we called him on Christmas he seemed ready and excited for the new generation of rowdy Bybee posterity to begin.

Thanks so much, wonderful family and friends, for rejoicing at our great fortune with us!