Vacation back in the U.S.

We just returned home from the US after being away for 2 1/2 weeks.  It was a great trip! Always good to see family in New Jersey and also be back in Arizona - although it's sort of from one desert to another.  But I have to say, it was nice not to have to deal with roundabouts, speed bumps, or the every other crazy speedy driver we get around here in Abu Dhabi!
Thankfully the boys love to travel and we've had quite a few comments on their "ride" while roaming around the airport terminals.

Thank goodness for upgrades!

And why is it they always fall asleep when the plane is about to land??!

And once at Grandma and Pop-pop's it's sleep:

Still sleeping...

And more sleeping!

The boys were up at 4:30am on all three days we were in NJ.  And if they weren't sleeping, they would be busy raiding the fridge.  Well, at least Charlie always was!

Did I mention how cold it was? Just a little over 20F one morning.  That's below freezing. Brr...!!!

We made our way to Phoenix, AZ so we were able to thaw out there :-)  Didn't take long for the boys to tuck into their mac-n-cheese.

And be all comfy on the couch.  So glad the boys felt right at home, as it is their home away from home!

And it was as if they didn't miss a beat when it came to playing in their playroom:

Or the backyard!

And the boys love going to the nearby golf course to work on their game:

If you're wondering what Graham is doing, he says he is lining up his putt! :-)

It's good the boys are liking this now.  Better start training them to clean up too :-)

My sister came by for a quick visit too! 

Did I mention how much we love the sunsets here:

My sister has 2 boys too and guess she didn't quite get a break from her boys as she had my boys to deal with:

By the way, made a slight change to the bedroom configurations. The guestroom is now a real guestroom minus Charlie's crib.  The boys now share a room together in Phoenix and I'm so glad Charlie has been doing so well in his new converted crib/bed (to the left):

Being in Phoenix during this time of the year, we make our usual trip to the Phoenix Zoo Lights:

This year, Grandma and Pop-pop made their way over from NJ so it was fun to have them come along too!

The lights are always so impressive, as well as the light show with the music.  Not as impressive as my Christmas tree this year though. He he!

This was attempt #2 by the way and normally by morning, it doesn't quite look the same as scotch tape just doesn't quite do the trick!
So in short, always a fun trip here with gravel...

Airplanes...

and lights!!!

Christmas is getting close!