Sisters Coordinate Surprise Holiday Reunion of 22 Family Members for Grandparents: 'It Made Their Year' (Exclusive)

• Lexi and Alli Tithof organized a sleepover with their grandparents' five children, 10 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and various spouses for Christmas

• Family members flew to Michigan from across the country, managing to keep the elaborate travel plans a secret

• Lexi and Alli tell PEOPLE that their grandparents are still "beaming" over the surprise
  

Every year, Mary and Dale Tithof open their Michigan home to host what they lovingly call “A Tithof Christmas" with their family members.

However, with their five children and 10 grandchildren now scattered across the country — from Florida to Texas, California to Ohio — the couple has grown accustomed to smaller gatherings in recent years. Often, only two of their five children's families (those who also live in Michigan) have been able to make it over for the holiday celebrations.

However, this year, a few of their grandchildren were determined to make the holiday special for their grandma and "Poppy." Lexi and Alli Tithof, two of the couple's Michigan-based grandchildren, coordinated with their cousins, aunts and uncles to surprise their grandparents with a Christmas celebration that they hoped would be unforgettable.

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"This past year has been kind of hard for them" Lexi, 21, tells PEOPLE exclusively of her grandparents. Mary’s sister, Norma, and her husband, Frank — who Lexi says were her grandparents’ closest friends and the people they often spent the holidays with — died earlier in the year, within a month of each other.

Determined to do something to lift their grandparents' spirits, the sisters began brainstorming ideas on how they might be able to get their whole family in one place for the first time in nearly five years.

"Definitely credit to my older sister, Alli," Lexi says. "She created a group chat with all of [the cousins] and was like, 'Okay, guys, we have to do something.' "

Inspired by a trending TikTok idea, Alli, 24, pitched the concept of a surprise cousin sleepover at their grandparents' house right before Christmas to the rest of the extended family.

"She sent it in a group chat with all of us and was like, 'We have to do this. No excuses. We can all make time to do it even for just one day,' " Lexi says.

Surprisingly, the family rallied behind the idea — with some convincing from Alli, who ensured everyone sent their booking and travel arrangements to her for confirmation in advance. For more than a month leading up to the surprise, the family planned via group chat to bring their idea to life.

Coordinating flights, schedules, and accommodations for the five children, 10 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and spouses was no small feat. Lexi admits that some of the family needed more convincing than others, particularly their California relatives, who worried about potential travel delays. One of their cousins based in Florida had also recently given birth to twins, raising concern that flying with their toddler and two new babies would be too much of a struggle.

But Alli's initial text to the family convinced them to trek out to Michigan to see their grandparents.

"The initial text that Alli sent kind of guilt-tripped everyone," Lexi shares. "Because it was like, 'We don't know how much time they have. When are we ever going to be able to do this? Everyone can make the time.' So I think once they read that, they were like, 'Okay, we have to do it.' "

Despite some logistical kinks, like where to house the dozens of extended family who arrived in Michigan for the night before the surprise (they ended up staying at Alli and Lexi's family home) and where to park the next day so as not to alert the grandparents to the surprise prematurely (in the parking lot of the high school across the street), the family was able to pull the surprise off.

In a video posted to Lexi's TikTok account, the family can be seen gathering in the snowy front yard of Mary and Dale's house, wearing matching black, long-sleeve shirts that read "Tithof Christmas 2024" that Alli designed and ordered off of Etsy.

"I gotta get a picture, hold on!" said the Tithofs' grandpa in the video, standing in the front doorway.

"They were shocked," Lexi adds. "My Poppy started crying, which I rarely ever see."

The video, which now has more than 4 million views, prompted an outpouring of comments, with users expressing their admiration for the family's surprise. One commenter wrote, "I'd give anything to be able to do this," with another adding, "I'm crying my eyeballs out."

"I actually just talked to them because I was trying to explain that they were famous on TikTok and they didn't really understand that," Lexi laughs. "But my grandpa said, 'Me and Grandma have just been sitting here. We just cannot believe that you guys did that for us.' "

Alli also made sure to come to the house prepared, so as not to stress out her grandparents with the arrival of the 22 extra family members.

"We brought food," Alli says with a laugh. "There are some comments like, 'You guys are going to make her cook all this food?' No. We brought dinner and everything. I had it all planned out."

For the rest of the day, the family squeezed into Mary and Dale's three-bedroom, 1,100-square-foot house that Lexi and Alli's dad grew up in and spent time chatting, reminiscing and even answering trivia questions about their grandparents.

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"A lot of it was just catching up, because we all haven't all been together in a while, like five years," Alli says. "Catching up, looking at photos, reminiscing. The boys went out and played football, and we took the toddler, Penelope, out in the snow since she's from Florida and has never seen it before."

The family also slept over at their grandparents' house, aided by the help of neighbors away on vacation who offered up their house as an extra shower and sleeping spot.

"The moral of the story is," Alli shares, "If they can, everyone should do something like this for their grandparents. They are just beaming right now."

Read the original article on People