visiting with family..march 14-17

1 We fly today. Our first flight is delayed and we have just 10 minutes to deplane and make our way to the connecting flight. We do and even our luggage makes the quick transition.
2 There is a group of men chattering away in Spanish behind us. They appear to be very happy to be heading to new jobs. Seasonal workers perhaps.
3 He picks us up at the airport and we are excited to see the babies. They are sleeping in their car seats and look very very sweet.
4 Lots of things are going on in their world and some of it is not so pleasant. We try our best to support Michie and show her how much we care and want things to work out in her current volunteer situation. She's taking the high road and it will all work out, it always does.
5 Grandpa and Izzy go shopping together and come home with healthy treats of fruit and vegetables. Izzy is happy to get bananas and Kes, well Kes is just an eating machine.
6 Chris and I spend a couple of hours together. We shop for a bit but mostly we have fun being together, talking and sharing.
7 It's Izzy's birthday and we have a pizza party where we make homemade individual pizzas and have ice cream cake and best of all presents for little girls. 
8 She especially likes the remote control car for her new 'my little pony.'
9 Her brother helps her to chase it all over the house. He wants to eat it more than play with it!
10 The day before Grandpa and Izzy have an mountain climbing adventure. She was a real trooper but kept telling Grandpa that the forest was scary. He reassures her and shows her the many lovely things as part of nature. At the top they call me to share their fun.
10a Mountain adventure part one with Grandpa, Izzy and Grandma.  Part way up the steep slope we start to see lightning and hear thunder. Thinking it's most likely going to pass over us, we continue, but then decide to head down. At the bottom we see hail, and boy does it ever come down. Grandpa makes a cave over top of Izzy with his jacket and I shelter the lower bits. Soon we're rescued by a good samaritan and are driven home safely. Little did we know that Daddy was there to save Izzy but we never saw him. Still, he's the hero!
11 Another trip up the mountain, part two. It's a beautiful sunny day for walking and Izzy wants another adventure. She turns to Grandpa and says in the sweetest voice, 'We're in the forest. It's beautiful.'
12 We arrive home and our luggage is missing. I text Chris and he says in a joking reply, 'It's probably in Zimbabwe'. I mention it to the clerk who isn't sure about that as a joke but we laugh. A few hours later it's delivered to our door.