Long time no type.

Well, I certainly hadn't intended to finish off a month of posting daily by not posting for an entire week. Sadly, we found out last Thursday that Brian's grandma had passed away, so the next few days were a blur of making plans, doing laundry, cleaning up, doing laundry, packing, doing laundry - you get the drift.

Our trip was too fast, and it was - of course - sad, but at the same time we got to spend some quality time with family that we don't see often enough. That, at least, was a blessing. I am grateful that Grandma got to meet and hold both of her great-grandchildren. She loved holding them in her lap, and they loved that she wore long dangly necklaces that they could tug on. Brian has lots of stories from when he used to fly out to Texas every summer to see his grandparents, and when the kids are older they will get to hear about Grandma Norma, and what a strong woman she was. Brian was excited to find an ice cream maker that he used to use with his grandparents when he was out there visiting, and he shipped it home so that he can make ice cream with Claire and Ben. (Hopefully that's one item that was on my Christmas list that I won't get this year!) I know they won't have their own memories of meeting her, but we have lots of pictures to show them, and hopefully that will be enough.

We came back to two little ones who have been physically on top of me for the last 48 hours. Or at least that's what it feels like. Just five minutes ago Claire asked me, "why are you under that blanket?" I told her I was cold, and she said, "I'm cold, too." So she went upstairs to get her blanket. On her way up the stairs she said, "do you want me to sit next to you?" with the most hopeful lilt in her voice. It obviously meant, "may I please sit next to you?" Of course this means she is currently laying on top of one of my forearms while I type, touching my lips and chin and giggling.