Huge Surprise

I know this one is late and most of you probably know that Dan and I were hugely surprised in mid January.  Our two kids surprised us with a visit to Las Vegas.  We were already planning on a post- Christmas visit from Erin.  We headed the airport at the appointed time.  Part way there we realized her plane had landed early.  So we hurried along.  Got a text from Erin that said she had landed.  We parked and headed to the baggage claim area.  Sent Erin a message about where we were standing.  I was looking down the full length of the baggage area waiting to see Erin. Finally there she walking toward us with a big smile on her face.  I tell Dan, "there she is." "Where?"  Then I notice she is pointing at the guy next to her ...  It is Jordan, our son! WOW! Was I shocked.  He had a big red bow on him and an even bigger smile.  They got us good.  We had no idea they had been planning this surprise for two months. I cried. The best Christmas present ever!

The next morning we all got up and headed to Death Valley for the day.  Neither of them had been there before.

 We stopped first at Dante's View. Pretty spectacular.

Family selfie with Death Valley (Badwater) behind us.

The people down on the salt flats below looks like ants.  We are headed way down there after lunch.

A view toward the west.

Love my grown up babies!

Yoga pose time.  Jordan was a good sport.

Then we headed to the visitor's center at Furnace Creek.  We had a picnic in January! Then headed south to Badwater, 282 feet below sea level.

Up-close view of the salt crystals.

Badwater poses!

Glad we brought our own water!

On Friday we all got together with Linda and Art and her kids who were also in town visiting for the week.  We met at Marie Calendar's for lunch.  What fun but no photos.

Jordan was happy to help out with Taigo.  I found a great little cat halter and a leash designed for cats. Taigo used to run around our neighborhood in Vermont and has been feeling trapped in our little backyard so he has been learning how to walk on a leash.  Taigo is so excited he begs to go out every morning now.  

Saturday we gathered at Linda's house for Christmas dinner! There was also a Patriots playoff game on the agenda.

Art's Aunt Helen was there.  Milo was keeping her company.

Dan and Kariym were talking sports.

Our nephew, Corey was visiting as well. Erin didn't want her photo taken. Sorry!

Jordan had his Gronk face on!

Mikey and Hayley were waiting for dinner.  Excellent guacamole, Mike.

Another big weekend surprise involved Taigo.  He escaped!!! Just as we were getting ready to head to the Strip for the evening we noticed Taigo was missing. Oh no!  I ended up staying home while Dan took the kids downtown.  We finally found that little bugger almost a half mile away at the bottom of our community.  He was pretty glad to see us again.  It was dark and cold and he had missed his supper!

Here is a photo of the kids just as they were going for a night on the town! Pretty great looking group.

All great weekends must come to an end.  Early on Sunday Jordan had to catch a flight back to Vermont.  Erin left in the evening.  What a great time we had.  We have't been all together as a family for quite some time.  We loved our Christmas gift!

It's all about the journey.

Our best to everyone. 

Nancy and Dan