The other day Max called and said, "Can we go on a date, Nana?"  I told him, "yes we could".  Today was the day.  I told him he could plan the date.  We could do whatever he wanted to do.  So he did.  I picked him up at 9 and we headed to Boondocks.  We got there and it didn't open until 10.  He got out of his car seat and sat on my lap.  We set the timer on my phone to go off at 10 and watched it countdown.  We were the first one's in.  We paid our money, got our tokens and Max started to look around to decided what he wanted to do.  We noticed that some of the games already had tickets coming out of them.  That was exciting for Max.  He said it was like going on an Easter egg hunt as we went searching all the machines for tickets.  He played a few games, watched a few games and then decided he wanted to play lazer tag.  He told me I had to play with him.  So I did.  He explained to me how to put on my vest and asked me to help him on with his.  He told me he'd stay by me and teach me how to play.  Then he gave me a wink and said, "love ya, Nana".  Our team won and that made Max happy.  He played a few more games and then I told him his tokens were almost gone.  He asked me how many he had left, and I told him he had four.  He wanted to play a target shooting game.  It took two tokens.  He said he wanted me to play too.  I told him if I played he wouldn't have any tokens left.  I told him he wouldn't be able to play anymore games.  He said, that's okay.  I want you to play with me.  So I did.  We sat at a table and counted up our tickets.  He had his eye on a popper gun that took 700 tickets to get.  He really wanted it.  When we began to count the tickets, he knew pretty quickly that he wasn't going to have enough.  He only had 33.  He was really brave and said, "It's okay Nana, Santa already brought me a gun for Christmas."  He gave the lady at the counter his tickets and she rounded up the number to 35.  He picked a pack of fun dip.  He said he was ready to go.  Next stop was Mcdonalds.  He got chicken nuggets.  Not a happy meal, because the toy was dumb and he doesn't like french fries anymore.  So he got a big drink instead.  He mixed the sodas up and said his drink tasted like "cotton candy".  We ate with my arm around him and his head on my shoulder.  He looked up at me, gave me a wink and said, "love ya, Nana".  He finished and went to play on the toys.  I watched everything he did.  Every time he looked down at me, I was watching.  He'd smile and give me a thumbs up.  I'm glad I left my phone in the car.  Next stop was the dollar store.  He found an army hat and had to have it.  Next he found an army vest and asked if he could have that too.  Then he spotted a package of army "stuff". He wanted to know if it was okay if he got that too.  Just as we were leaving he found a badge that looked really important.  He asked me if it was an Army badge.  I told him, "it could be."  He said, "if I get this, would I have to put something else back?"  I told him, "no".  He could have it all.  He smiled, gave me a wink and said, "love ya, Nana".  He left the dollar store a happy boy...he got gum too.  He decided he wanted to go to my house for a little while.  On our way there he said to me, "Nana, there are a lot of people in heaven aren't there?"  I told him, "yep, there were".  He said, "if I had my own world you would never go to heaven Nana.  You would just stay with me here forever."  I told him that sounded nice.  Then he said that in his world candy would be like vegetables.  Swedish Fish would be like carrots and you could eat all you wanted and never get sick or fat.  When we got to my house he wanted to go snuggle on my bed and watch Home Alone.  So we did.  While we were laying there he said, "tickle me like crazy, Nana."  So I did and he laughed and laughed.  Then Hank called.  He wanted to know when Max was coming home.  Max decided it was time.  He missed his brother and his family and his home.  He'd been gone long enough.  On our way to his house we sang silly songs and talked about the fun time we'd had.  When we pulled into his driveway, we opened the doors and got out.  On our way in he looked up at me, gave me that wink and said, "love ya, Nana".  I looked at him and said, "love you too, Maxie".  It was a great day.  Being a Grandma is just the best.

Christmas....This year was so much fun.  We had a HOUSE FULL and we loved it!  It was  the reason I wanted to build THIS home.  So there would be room for everyone to come and feel comfortable.  It'll be nice when the basement is finished, but we did okay!

Andy and Britney came home with their family.  Tim and Maria came home with their family.  Robyn and D came home with their family.  Aaron and Courtney are close by with their family, so they were already here.  The only ones we were missing were Dan and Linsey and their family.  They were certainly missed.  Hopefully someday, when every ones schedules match again, we can have everyone.  It would be the fulfillment of a dream.  Maybe not my kids dream....but my dream.  Having my family all under one roof again, for just a few days, would be awesome.  It wouldn't even have to be at Christmas!

The time they were here was packed full of Awesomeness!  We went to Temple Square to look at the lights, we made gingerbread houses, we played in the snow, we wrote letters to Santa, We went to jump on it, we went to the kangaroo zoo, we ate out, we had pizza, we played games, we laughed, we opened presents, we played with new toys, we went sledding....it was a busy time!  Cousins became friends all over again....it was great!












Christmas is an awful time to travel.  Especially when you have a van full of kids and gifts and STUFF!  It's hard to pack it all up and bring it where you're going to, then pack it all up and bring it home again.  We want our kids to know, we appreciate you!  We appreciate your willingness to come and see us. We recognize that it's hard and not so much fun getting here.  But we are thankful!  We LOVE you, we LOVE your spouses and we LOVE our grandkids!  Thank you, thank you, thank you for your visits.  They mean so much.

Not my Christmas Post yet...That's too overwhelming right now!  I took over 800 pictures!  Soon though.  Bob got my built ins done a couple of weeks ago and I've been working on getting them "just right".  The fireplace isn't done yet, but enough to pass our final inspection.  We've got the stone to finish it....just need time now to do it.