Grandpa Paul aka Boise Police

There are always happy times in store whenever my dad decides to visit Texas, although we insist he's due to bring Shelby along with him next time. Lyla seems to think Teddy [the dog] can simply sit in his lap for the duration of his flight next time as well. 

My dad likes to maintain his reputation as a low maintenance house guest, even pointing out that his newest tag line is "all I need is beer money and a coat." He claims he is going to print it up on t-shirts and make his fortune. He also put a spin on the notorious phrase about coffee by coming up with,  "don't even talk to me before I've had my first energy drink." I'm still laughing over that one because not only is it true about him, but it doubles as a mockery to all coffee drinkers like myself. My dad is the perfect blend of sarcasm and honesty. He never fails to make me laugh. He would probably be mad at me for exposing his ideas to the world, lucky for him I only have three blog followers. 

We visited Santa during his visit, which is the second time it's worked out for the old fellas to be in town at the same time. Lyla wore a crown to the mall --- as I mentioned earlier, all that ego building from Grandma Paula over the past few days has really gone to her head. Anyway, she removed the crown as we approached the Santa display and  I asked her for what reason. She said, "Oh, I don't want Santa to know I'm a real princess." I'm curious what her thought process was...maybe princesses don't get presents or something...I'm not sure. It was a funny moment, regardless of her reasoning. She requested some privacy upon sitting on Santa's lap and insisted Max wait from a distance. She asked for a Barbie [borrrring!] and Max requested a "little teeny tiny batman." It's pretty cute when he asks because he uses his thumb and pointer finger to illustrate exactly how tiny he means.  I don't think Santa will have any problem fulfilling their wishes this year. I'm fully anticipating the year one of them asks for a pony or some other absurd purchase. That will be fun. It will likely happen to me next year now that I called Lyla's request for a barbie boring. C'est la vie!

My dad made us the best pork tacos known to man, along with the most amazing green sauce that I could drink from a straw if it didn't light my mouth on fire. He joined us at gymnastics on Wednesday before we had to take him to the airport to return home. Max remains oblivious, but Lyla's reaction upon watching grandpa enter the airport doors was absolutely heartbreaking. We really really don't like goodbyes. 

We have full hearts & our stockpile of treasured memories has been replenished. We have so much gratitude for all the people in our lives who love us enough to travel such a great distance to see us. It happens so much more than I ever expected. I'm going to take the next few days to restore the normal functions of our household & detox from the insane levels of butter in my system. It also occurred to me that in the midst of all the commotion Max officially turned two & a half, meaning he's due for a well-check up. We will get that checked off our list, along with a couple other maintenance items before the end of the year. We are looking forward to one more set of house guests before our final countdown to Christmas. As cliche as it may be, it truly is the most wonderful time of the year! 

Note: I just realized the title of this post may seem puzzling. My dad, being the prankster that he is, always answers the phone as "Boise Police" when we call him. Lyla is onto his tricks now, but the first time he answered this way her eyes opened wider than you could imagine as she quickly passed the phone back to me. Lyla has since started answering my cellphone as "Houston Police," with a little encouragement from me, of course. I suppose the inherited habits of constant mischief carry on...