Undercover Birthday

Oh man does my husband know me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! About 3 or 4 weeks ago, Les told me that he had been planning a special something for my birthday! He is REALLY good at this, so I was super excited. All he told me was that there were only going to be a few of us, it would be an all day thing, and we would have to get up at 6:00 and drive for an hour and 1/2. At first I just knew it was going to be a day at the spa with the girls. Then he said, "you'll never guess this." Aaaaaaaaaannnnd he was right. I was thinking the total opposite of what he was really planning..........and I am so thankful it wasn't a day of pampering at the spa. Don't get me wrong, I love getting a massage, and even though I've never had a facial, I'm sure I wouldn't mind someone rubbing mud or soap on my face. Love pedicures, love soft fluffy robes, love hot tubs before and after massages, looooooove "slumber rooms" when I actually get a chance to read my current Karen Kingsbury book without someone running at full speed straight into me, drooling on me, or playing referee because it's someone else's turn to be the dog in the "dog/trainer" game!!! Seriously.

SO, Les tells me before I leave where I'm going..........

The Bell's ranch to spend 8 hours shooting Mr. Bell's guns at his outdoor gun range!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! I seriously wanted to call Jennifer Garner and ask her if she wanted to come with me. Sidney Bristow is my hero. So, 0600 comes along and Sarah, Amie (Luke's wife), and I are headed out to learn the ropes.........but first, there's no celebration until we start the day with donuts. Now, for the past month our family has started eating nothing but natural/organic food for several reasons. Donuts? Not so much organic. I'm pretty sure those were inhaled in about .4 seconds. Loved them! Even though I felt a little sick right after. I gotta press on!!!

So, we get to their ranch and this is what is waiting for us.....

this is all for me!

Mr. Bell, a police officer who teaches concealed hand gun carrier license classes, and a guy who just graduated from St. Mary's ROTC were there to instruct us. Mr. Bell is a former Army Ranger and knows EVERYTHING about guns and bad guys...........and he has a pretty cool daughter. :) Love you Bella!! (that's "beautiful in Spanish). We learned so much from him!!! We had so much fun!!!! He first had us shoot at targets, then we'd have to put 3 rounds into the target. Then we'd have to take a step out and shoot. Then we'd have to start with our hands up in a surrender postition, grab the gun out of our holster (yes, that's right) cock it, and shoot! Booya!!!!!! After lunch we would do different drills like shoot the target while walking straight at it, shoot 5 different targets while walking from right to left or left to right, start with our backs to the target, turn around find the bullet, load it in the magazine, load our gun, cock it and shoot.........all in a few seconds!!!

Sarah, me, and Amie

Mr. Bell!!!! Best instructor......very serious when he needed to be, and very encouraging when we needed to hear it. :)

Sarah shooting at the targets "hiding" behind the trees!

Mr. Bell and Amie.......she was a natural!

We enjoyed this day so much, that we didn't want to leave when it was over. Soooooooooo, he let us shoot these at the end of the day......

Thank you, thank you, thank you Les for a phenomenal birthday present!!!!!!!!!!!!

this was my target when I got done with him after a couple of hours. :)