My dad arrived.

We didn't see him until morning, but my dad, Robert, had arrived in the middle of the night with his two sons. They had left a day early and drove all day from Texas while we were at Animal Kingdom. We tried our best to wait up for them, but realized they were off on their arrival time- about 4 hours off! So we went to bed and woke up to our little reunion. I haven't seen my father since Terri and Brian's wedding 6 years prior, or was it 5? In any case- it was a long time. The last time he had seen my kids was July of 1998. Yeah- too long. Payton was almost 4, Riley was 2 1/2, and Sydney was a little over 1. My dad had not even met Maisyn or Porter until this vacation. So this was quite a special reunion all around. My dad's boys, Joe and Nigel, came as well. His wife was in Burma visiting with her family for the holidays and so we thought it was a perfect time to get them out. Joe turned 19 on 1/4/09 and joined the Air Force last fall and was on a leave for Christmas- he's now stationed at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma. That's where my dad was stationed for a few years while a was a kid, 3rd and 4th grade actually. Nigel is 14 1/2, one year younger than Payton to the month. The girls don't call him uncle, they act more like cousins. But anyway, it was wonderful to see my dad and we tried to fill every waking moment with activities, conversations, memories, pictures, and lots of relaxation. When Elizabeth tried to get Dad to head to bed since he had driven all night long the day before, he said, "I will have plenty of time for sleep when I get home." I agreed.
This is Larry and my dad trying to figure out the Miller's pool vacuum system.
They took a while to get it working.

Porter in the swim goggles. The water was a wee bit too cold for him to actually get in!

We were loving the warm sunshine; probably the only people in swimsuit in December in the neighborhood!

Porter just wanted someone to sit with him while he stood ankle deep on the step.

We had Christmas together to look forward to. Good food and family, what more could we ask for?