A trip home...

The very next morning after Christmas, Miles and I flew to AZ for my grandpa Bud's funeral. Grandpa Bud had been living with my parents for the last several years and was the last of my grandparents to pass away. His health had been declining and so his death was was not unexpected in anyway, but still a sad event to go home to.

Grandpa Bud and his sweetheart, my Grandma Madeliene. They have the best love-story ever. Really, someone in my creative-writing family should write a screen play based on their story :)
Grandpa Bud was too young to get married, so they tried to elope. When they went to the courthouse, the secretary recognized Bud and said she knew his family and that he was too young to get married! So instead of waiting... they drove to the neighboring county where no one would recognize them and got married on the fly! So romantic :)



My dad is the smiley one in the middle - love the bowties!
It was pretty neat to go through all of grandpa's old stuff. He had A LOT and it wasn't even a fraction of what he and grandma had together before they moved to AZ from Utah. Grandpa Bud was in the Navy during WWII. He had saved all the letters he and Madeliene had written back and forth to each other - they were so sweet. So many cool old photos and treasures.


There was a whole stack of old newspapers:


The funeral was really good. It was a true tribute to an amazing life. Grandpa Bud was involved in some very serious battles during the war and recieved veteran's honors at his burial. I honestly felt very proud to be one of his decendants - he had such a wonderful and fascinating life.


And of course it was so nice to see my family! It had been over a year since I'd been home, so none of my family (except my mom) had ever met Miles!


We played "telephone" with some seriously giggly girls! So fun :)

Miles had his first Eegee! A true milestone for any Tucson-connected baby :)

It didn't take Miles long to realize that Grandma likes to eat snacks in the living room, and if you beg, she's likely to share!

Miles did as good as could be expected. He had a hard time sleeping, so that kind of threw him off for the first few days. Ok, he was a bit grumpy. But he started to figure things out and we had a good time visiting family. I was SO nervous to take him on a plane (on account of his constant wiggley-ness) but he did pretty good. He fussed a little here and there, and he slept about half the time. We sat next to some very kind and understanding strangers, so that was helpful.

Fun with Uncle Joe :)

I tried getting a picture of Miles with cousins Jenna and Adam, but it was difficult - none were very interested in having their picture taken!

I'm so glad I was able to go. We were all reminded of a truly amazing life - one that we're all so proud to be connected to. I love my family!