Phoenix- A bittersweet, short trip

We got The Call two Fridays ago- Mark's grandfather (Great Granddad) had passed away in Phoenix, AZ. While we knew that The Call could come any day it still caught us off guard. Can you ever be ready for such a call? No, I don't think so.

Thankfully, through Mark's company we were able to return home for the funeral to help support Mark's grandmother and extended family. A very bittersweet and short trip. Five days is just enough time to get adjusted to the new time zone before getting back on the plane.

We got to spend quality time with family- including three hours with Oma and Mittens during our lay over in Seattle:

We took Flat Stanley with us (he came in the mail from Annika's friend, Paige):

Ava "didn't sleep" on the plane and here's the proof:

Happy to be back in the States and see BLUE SKIES!

Grandma with Annika, Miles, Ava and Mark.

And now adding Grandpa…

Taking Great Grandmother out for ice cream at Mary Coyle's. Mmmmmmm!!!! Many family celebrations have happened at Mary Coyle's over the years. You can buy platters of ice cream- they had three different sizes- the biggest one had 15 POUNDS of ice cream and was over $100US! Now that IS a LOT of ice cream, even by my standards!!! We opted to get individual sundaes. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm…….

Great Grandmother plays a mean game of tic-tac-toe with Ava. She also plays a mean game of Scrabble!!!

Since the funeral was going to be held on Thursday and that meant we had one day free so we decided to go for a drive….JUST BECAUSE WE COULD! WOW! Being couped up for nearly six months means we were near desperation to just get out and go on OUR OWN!

We just started heading north towards Flagstaff and let our curiosity be our guide.

Montezuma's Castle:

Montezuma's Well:

I just can't get enough of the blue skies!

Walnut Canyon:

Imagining what life must have been like here in ancient "condo" land. Walnut Canyon is very close to Flagstaff.

The strength of two girls holding up the cave ceiling! My, those are some strong children!!!

Can you see the "condos"?

What a glorious day for a drive! We headed back to Phoenix via Sedona. Ah, Sedona. Such a gorgeous place!!!

We even got to rent a Prius! It was just like old times…going for a drive in our Prius.

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And finally- the reason we were all here: to celebrate Great Granddad's life and final passing.

The pallbearers:

Folding the flag (never realized what an elaborate process that is!):

Presenting Great Grandmother with the flag (sniff, sniff):

Some very well behaved children listening quietly (Hans, Ava, Annika and Miles are in this photo).

We all got a turn to place a red rose on his casket.

Mementos of Great Granddad. He and Great Grandmother were married for 74 years. WOW! 74 years….Amazing, isn't it?

In the afternoon, there was a full church mass to celebrate Great Granddad's life but due to the extreme heat the children stayed behind with cousin Michele and me. Apparently the A/C unit was broken in the church so that was a wise decision!!! (especially with temperatures around 108F)

Watching The Muppet Movie with cousins. (Hans and Grant)

Sitting under the apple tree at Great Grandparent's house: Mark, Grandpa, Aunt Karen, Uncle Chuck and Grandma. One of the nicest places to sit in the yard!

Enjoying some down time with family.

We got in the car…and we saw 122F! Okay, okay. So, that wasn't the "real" temperature (it was 115F) but it was HOT, HOT, HOT!

Watch out! Great Grandmother plays a killer game of Scrabble!

Chatting with Grandpa and Great Aunt Kathy.

One last hug …

Boy,I sure wish this wasn't good bye! We love you Great Grandmother!!!

One last swim in the pool with cousins Hans and Niels. It was so nice catching up with Michele and Eric. (and THANK YOU for the How to Train a Dragon series!!!!! I think Annika has read at least two of the books in the series. She was so excited!)