Joy's grandmother had been declining since around Easter and had been on hospice since July. So it was not entirely unexpected that she had passed away in late August. We made quick arrangements and were thankful for the understanding that both of our workplaces gave us as we paid a premium for last-minute airfare (no more grieving fares for airlines). The price was worth it to gather with the family that we have not seen for quite a while and some new additions that we had not met yet. The biggest bonus was getting to see Naomi, our newest niece, who was 5 weeks old. We made use of our time there to visit the Taste of Madison, the University of Wisconsin vs UAB Soccer game, Brewers vs Astros baseball game, and the Madison Zoo. We spent an extra night in Wisconsin when our flight to Chicago was delayed by Hurricane Dorian and issues at the Newark airport. By the time our flight was finally sorted out, it was clearly obvious we wouldn't make our connection (the last flight out), so we had another night in Madison and then an early flight out the next morning.
 |
| School must still go on, so we brought our work along. |
 |
| Sunrise at the airport on our second attempt at departure. |
 |
| Trying on some cheeseheads... |
 |
| Naomi (in Alecia's arms) stares with eyes wide open at Uncle Brett...of course she may have just been seeing herself in the reflection from Brett's sunglasses... |
 |
| Bryce enjoyed time with Alecia's cat Layla. |
 |
| Posing with Bucky the Badger on the U-Wisconsin campus. |
 |
| Cousin Sophia and the boys enjoy the tortoise statue. |
 |
| Can you find all 4 cousins in the kangaroo? |
 |
| Griffin socializes with Norman...talk about getting our cat fix. |
 |
| Bryce with his favorite cat kind. |
 |
| Uncle Matt and Sophia show us some of the highlights of the Madison Zoo. |
 |
| Are those crazy primates? Nope, just our three boys. |
 |
| Free Madison Zoo was pretty cool, thanks for taking us. |
 |
| Hanging out at Cousin Sophia's house was fun...time with cats and dogs and cousins. |
 |
| Bryce holding baby cousin, Naomi |
 |
| Griffin strikes Miles pose on the ground. |
 |
| Lola and Miles try to get Griffin's attention. |
 |
| Garrett holding Naomi. |
 |
| Griffin and Cousin Naomi at full attention. |
 |
| Hanging with our newest girl cousins (Naomi and Sophia), plus Norman is photobombing... |
 |
| Aunt Joy getting her baby fix with Naomi. |
 |
| Aunt Jeanette, Grandma, Gail, Aunt Barb, Alecia at the Brewers |
 |
| Sophia visited with Aunt Joy and got a little silly. |
 |
| Brett and the boys watching the ballgame. |
 |
| On our way to Miller Park to see Astros vs Brewers. |
 |
| The roof was closed today due to inclement weather... |
 |
| We saw 4 solo HR hit in this 10 inning affair won by the Astros 3-2. |
 |
| Gerrit Cole (AL K leader) battles Christian Yelich (NL HR leader). |
 |
| Bryce and Griffin scored some nice seats next to Great Aunt Barb on coming back from the bathroom. |
 |
| The University of Wisconsin Soccer defeated UAB, 2-1, in a hotly contested, multiple-red card match. |
 |
| Wisconsin runs drills before the game. |
 |
| Alecia and her sweet (unless in a car) baby, Naomi. |
 |
| Loving our four scoop sampler plate at the Chocolate Shoppe. |
 |
| Family Lambeau leap! |
 |
| Brett in front of a Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers jersey/helmet display. |
 |
| The boys with another Bucky the Badger statue. |
 |
| Sophia gets tall to match up with Griffin. |
 |
| We all took a tour of the capitol building in Madison. |
 |
| Inside the capitol...amazingly no security. |
 |
| On the observation deck, looking at the lakes surrounding Madison. |
 |
| Taste of Madison view from the capitol. |
 |
| Picture with WR Donald Driver at the Lambeau exhibit. |
 |
| Sleeping peacefully despite the curtains opened. |
 |
| The Ski Hi apple orchard. |
 |
| One gymnast trains another. |
 |
| Crazy cousin picture by the sunflowers. |
 |
| The nicely posed cousin picture. |
 |
| The loudest donkey we ever heard. |
 |
| Matt, Naomi, Alecia, us, Gramps, Grandma, Jeanette. |
 |
| The new family of 4! |
 |
| The family crew from the funeral: Cheryl, Roger, Diane, Barb, Mike, Gary, Maryann, Kevin, et al |
 |
| Family photo at family gatherings... |
 |
| Family we don't get to see often: Diane, Mike, Cheryl, Roger, Kevin. |
 |
| Program from the funeral. |
