Every year, Grandma Fisher comes and spends a month with us, just like she did this past May. But this year, we asked her to come and spend another month with us, and she graciously agreed--but not for Christmas because it would be too cold and it might snow! Some of us actually LOVE snow, but not my dear mother-in-law, who lived for many years in Big Bear, California, and had to deal with major snowfalls and all the inconveniences they bring.
At any rate, this 2016 bonus trip came in November; and she arrived on the second day of the month and planned to leave on the last day of it...except that when we took her to the airport on November 30, her flight was delayed so much that it would have been impossible for her to catch her connecting flight in Philadelphia. Jeff talked with the ticket agent for a while and tried to figure out a solution to get her home to San Diego; but in the end, the best thing to do was to extend her trip for another week.
This bonus week was probably the busiest week of our fall semester; I'm not sure if it was a good or a bad thing that she had to be here for all the hustle and bustle of it! ;-) But we were sure glad to have her here for some special events
Like visiting a nicely-done outdoor nativity play after David's gymnastics class last Thursday.
And like being in our city's Christmas parade on Friday! :) The kids and I had been invited by our friend Amanda to be walking with her company's group in the parade, so since Grandma Fisher was going to still be here, she got to ride in the company bus. :) The pictures are very low quality, but they give a glimpse of Grandma Fisher holding Benjamin before the parade started, Moriah holding Amanda's dog before the parade, and Benjamin all bundled in his snowsuit and ready to march! :) I couldn't pass up the opportunity to include a crying-face picture, but during the parade, he was really very cheerful. :)
During this bonus week, Jeff and I seized the opportunity on Saturday evening to have a date; grandmas are superb babysitters! :)
And then on Sunday, a very special event occurred--one that made her delay totally worth it (in our opinion at least...I don't think her grandsons in California were very happy that Grandma wasn't coming home when she was supposed to!). Sunday afternoon was the Christmas concert of the Shenandoah Valley Children's Choir, an event that is always exciting but which was particularly historic for Tobin since it was the first time he has ever performed in a formal SVCC concert!! He had been pretty disappointed that Grandma wasn't going to be there for it, so of course he was thrilled when it turned out that she could be there!
Historic occasions can't go by without photographs, so here are the choristers with Grandma Fisher...
Another significant happening during this bonus week is that, at nearly 15 months of age, Benjamin has suddenly figured out how to travel and is now a man on the move. Like Tobin and Shav before him, he is a scooter, so we have had three crawlers and three scooters. We like to keep things fair around here. ;-) For quite a long time, Benjamin would sit on the floor and turn himself around in a circle, but he couldn't seem to grasp how to move forward--until just a few days ago when he fairly suddenly got the hang of it. It is so much fun to watch him move, and it reminds me of the amusement I got from watching Tobin and Shav when they were little guys scooting along. It does mean I have to be a whole lot more vigilant these days about where Benjamin is and what he can get into, but I am so happy that he learned how to do this while Grandma was here so she could have the fun of watching him transition into the mobile stage!
This was such an enjoyable read. We got to spend a full week over Thanksgiving in Vermont with our son and family, so I know how important it is for grandmas and grandpas to visit their long-distance family.
ReplyDeleteBlessings on you,
Lois Oster (Lynette Long's mom)