The Last Few Days...

We are in Phoenix! Bella flew back last Wednesday and on Saturday we all flew to Arizona. Flying with an active toddler, in a pandemic, is definitely an interesting experience, but we all survive.

This is what Bella looked like for the majority of the flight...



Josy slept for about 20 minutes on the first flight and a half hour on the second. He was pretty much toast by the time we got here.



We did find the Grinch in the airport...



Josy did not want to share Dad’s lap...



We finally made it!!



We agonized for a long time about whether or not this trip was a good idea, given the pandemic. But we finally decided to do it, in part because Great Gram wanted to see the boys and they needed an opportunity to know her. We have no idea what the future holds, but it’s pretty special to have my boys have an opportunity to spend time with their Great Gram.

And the night we got there, it was pretty clear that this was exactly the right decision.

On Sunday, we had pizza with Bryson.



Gabe and Bryson helped Gramps decorate the Christmas Tree.



The boys got an early Christmas present from Gram and Gramps...nerf guns!







Great Gram was shot in the back. Luckily a hug from Katilyn healed her injury.





Can we laugh about Great Gram teaching the boys about technology???



Katilyn, Pat and I went for a run through the desert.





Great Gram, showing her inner millennial...



We drove to the cemetery to have a good view of the Christmas star.











I love this picture...



Josy found the placemats and decided to set the table, social-distancing style.



Bella’s Christmas present involved ladies lunch and shopping trip. She’s also Great Gram’s only Great Granddaughter. The rest are all boys.





There have been lots of Great Gram and Josy snuggles.





The boys decided that a cooler was the most fun thing to play with by the Christmas tree. They all had to have a turn in it, but they all went willingly...

Gabe is inside...





Morning snuggles with Gram, looking at pictures of Josy’s new little cousin.





We have also had some drama. Gabe found something interesting in the bathtub when he went to the bathroom. When he came out to show us, he was holding a scorpion in his hand. Needless to say, the scorpion was thrown outside, squished, the exterminator was called and Gabe had a long lecture about not picking up bugs.

Also, Perry the Parrot has caused a lot of drama. Gabe is quite convinced that he’s real and Bryson is pretty sure than he’s a stuffed animal. Gabe came in the other day, complaining that “Bryson said that he’s not real!!” Then we overheard Gabe tell Bryson that “it’s okay, Bryson. You can think whatever you want.” Bryson asked if “are you just pretending that he’s real?” Gabe replied with “no. He actually is a real. He can talk.” He also ended up in the cooler with Bryson, which Gabe was not happy about because “Perry is afraid of the dark. He’s allergic to it.” They solved that problem by not shutting the cooler and putting one of the Christmas Tree lights in the cooler so that it wouldn’t be dark.

Silly boys...