I played a little social experiment with my family these past few weeks.  I decided about a month ago to fly home for my mom's birthday.  I told pretty much everyone in my family except my mom and dad and was (I'll admit) curious whether or not the secret could be kept from them....I am happy to report, that when so inclined, my family IS capable of keeping secrets as proven by the shocked expression on my mom's face when I showed up on the doorstep yesterday.