After nearly 3 hours of driving, my phone was blowing up with calls from Dad wondering what my status was and when I'd be getting to the airport. Then, the phone rang with the call I was super excited about. "We're in baggage claim." My two youngest brothers and my baby sister were waiting for us! I was only a couple minutes away from picking them up!
Isabelle and I pulled up to the curb and leapt out of the Suburban to clench tightly to my siblings and Isabelle's uncles and aunt! I nearly got teary eyed when I looked at the two youngest finally in my presence. They were no longer an image being projected back to me from my laptop! They were physically in front of me! I could touch them!
We all loaded into the Suburban and sought food. We decided on an In 'N Out Burger and pulled in! Instead of picking up the food via drive-through, we went inside so we could stare at each other while we ate! It was fantastic.
In mere minutes it felt like no time had passed since we'd been around each other. Giggles came from the way back of the Suburban and Rachel and Isabelle played cards. Sam, Joel, and I chatted about YouTube videos we'd watched and found to be funny. I pulled up the Bad Ass Honey Badger video on my phone and laughed at they watched it. My whole being tingled with joy as I basked in the sounds of my family being reunited.
We got stuck in stand still traffic between Tucson and Benson right after a torrential downpour. One of the bridges had overflown with rain water and traffic was being directed down to one lane. It took over 30 minutes to get out of it. No matter, we were enjoying each other's company and listening to a mix of music delivered by the radio. Sublime, Korn, Godsmack, then the Black Eyed Peas, Taio Cruz, and Ne-Yo. Eclectic as the folks listening. It was a great drive back home. Back to the place the kids hadn't been in more than 5 years. Their anticipation was palpable. The sounds of excitement increased as we crested the last big hill before seeing Sierra Vista's cityscape. It was fun to listen to them as they looked at new construction and developments that have gone up since they left.
We pulled up to the house and they were beside themselves! Not much has changed since they were in the neighborhood, but the interior of the house is significantly different. Flooring has been changed. Wall color has changed. Carpet has been replaced. Cupboard fixtures are different. Lots of different aesthetics since they lived in this house.
I got them all situated and introduced them to their respective sleeping areas. Laid down some rules about cleanliness. Then we sat down and hung out. Then went to the city park to take part in the city's festivities (minus fireworks) for the 4th of July. Live bands played as we all chased Alex around and played. We went home around 9:30 and resumed staring at each other. No one went to sleep until well after 1 in the morning.
The morning after, we had a fabulous breakfast and I was overjoyed to the new sounds of my house. The sounds built throughout the day as energy was restored to a very sleepy group of people. We didn't do a whole lot. We went to the skate park in the afternoon until we were rained home. Yesterday I too them to the pool and today is Isabelle's first game in the All-Star tournament. We'll all be driving over to Douglas to support her. I'm excited for her and Isabelle is losing sleep with anticipation.
The tone of the house right now is wonderful. I'm very happy to finally have them in my house and I look forward to the several days ahead of their visit.
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