Two sisters deliver Christmas surprise to their grandparents, organize sleepover with 22 family members

Christmas is incomplete without a heartwarming family reunion. This year, two sisters, Lexi and Alli Tithof, decided to surprise their grandparents with a sleepover featuring 22 family members, including five children, ten grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and their respective spouses. They posted the touching video on TikTok. 

Lex (@lexi_tithof) captioned the video, "22 of us from all over the country!! [with a smiling-crying emoji]." In the video, the family members were seen approaching the front door of their grandparents' home in the snowy front yard, wearing matching shirts that read "Tithof Christmas 2024," designed by Alli and ordered from Etsy. When they knocked on the door, their grandma watched in disbelief as she saw her family from inside the window. 

"Come outside, Grandma. Open the door," shouted everyone as the Tithof grandmother was shocked to see her grandchildren at her doorstep.

After she unlocked the door, they screamed, "Surprise!" while the grandparents stood there smiling and crying. "I gotta get a picture, hold on," said Grandpa, who immediately started looking for his phone to capture the priceless moment. 

Mary and Dale Tithof, the elderly couple, live in their Michigan home, which they lovingly named "A Tithof Christmas," where they enjoy hosting family members. Despite being blessed with a large family, they rarely get to spend time with them since their five children and ten grandchildren live in different locations—from Florida to Texas and California to Ohio, as reported by PEOPLE.

However, this year, the grandchildren were determined to seize the holidays and stopped by their grandparents' home without informing them. "This past year has been kind of hard for them," 21-year-old Lexi told the outlet, referring to Mary's [grandma] sister and her husband's sudden death. So, the children wanted to uplift them; hence, they showed up unannounced. "Definitely, [the] credit to my older sister, Alli," Lexi said. "She created a group chat with all of [the cousins] and was like, 'Okay, guys, we have to do something.'"

"She sent it in a group chat with all of us and said, 'We have to do this. No excuses. We can all make time to do it, even if just for one day,'" Lexi remarked. Fortunately, the whole family backed the idea, sending in their bookings and arrangements. After a month of back and forth, the idea came to fruition.

The video clip amassed 8.5 million views and prompted an outpour of loving comments from the followers. @sandy's Thrift Hub gushed, "Now this is how Christmas should look." @minnesootanice got emotional, "I'm crying my eyeballs out. @sandra said, "Grandparents are the cutest." @inimopi added, "This is how you win life on earth looks like." @MegumiHoly wrote, "What a moment! Your grandparents definitely live their best life... wow!!" 

Meanwhile, other followers loved how Grandpa wanted to freeze that moment in time. @desert_sparrow 2001 adored, "Grandpa what so shocked and so surprised. Grandma is like omg you made both of their Christmas!!! way to go!!" @underestimated_until echoed, "He says freeze a little longer while I get a snap." As for Grandma, this individual on TikTok, @purpleberri, opined, "Her expression is like omg my pantry is so underprepared for this." 

You can follow Lex (@lexi_tithof) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.