Bella

Mom and I arrived in Tulsa at about 6:00 in the evening and since Stacy and James were in class the routine was different.

Usually we are greeted at the airport by Stacy and Bella. We then head out to a few of our favorite stores, dinner at Olive Garden (with a glass of wine for me) and then home, but this time we were on our own. With minimal directions and dark lonely Oklahoma roads we started our trek.

James had texted me the instructions and did a good job (other than they came in 5 separate texts...have you ever tried to read a text on a dark deserted road?) until I got to text 4 telling me I should see the house on the left. I knew I was still about a half hour away... my phone was running out of battery (where my vital directions were living) and my mom was asleep. Luckily I scrolled through the texts again and saw that instruction 4 and 5 had been reversed. This was the step I needed which brought us safely to their house.

You have no idea how proud I was for making it in record time without getting lost. James and Stacy were surprised too as was James' mom who was waiting at their house with Bella.


I brought gifts for Bella since I was sure

she remembered Mickey Mouse from our last visit...but I was certain she didn't remember me. The gift of choice (thanks to a hint from Stacy) was Dora's backpack. Just to be on the safe side I brought the purple backpack with Dora's essentials and another backpack with Dora's picture on it, I wasn't taking any chances.

Does she look a little suspicious?

Baba helping her put the backpack on

She warmed up to us immediately

But the girl never stops thinking... and when she

is deep in thought, she sticks her tongue out to help her concentrate

We had a great time waiting for Stacy and James to get home.