a person in 467 photos brett My mom kept crying because my dad's cancer was continuing to progress and we all knew this would probably be the last time we'd all be together. Before hitting the road, I helped my brother... ...install some new curtains in the guest room. ... the next morning and... Drunk + Full = This expression in my family. lol Happy chef at work Need. Coffee Had a nice fire pit fire with my brother... My brother and his family were down in Florida visiting my parents... Brett and I checking out of Me, Brett and my cousins Lindsey & Chad with my mom's parents Ann & Bill....guessing 1985? Came home and digitized a bunch of old photos at my parent's place. Brother time at the airport with the ween. Mom couldn't stop crying because she kept thinking about how it was probably dad's last Christmas (it was). On our last night we took family pics by the tree. ...my dad's best friend Roger and his wife Bonnie for dinner. Roger is British and my dad's version of Grant. It was really sweet to watch them hang out and interact. (Sadly, Roger passed away just a few months after my dad in late 2018.) Brett makes his "look we're doing something that mom made us do" face. This ornament is really cute. Love looking back at old photos. (Who would've guessed that about me, right?) That evening Brett and I helped our Mom setup and decorate the Christmas Tree. Compared to this flashback pic from the late 90s! ...to McDonalds! Second time in one-week! Friday night we went over to Uncle Bruce's... Thanks for having as, Chris & Jen! Brett giving Romeo some love. Visited with Grandma in the afternoon. Happy Thanksgiving from the Battjers! <3 We finished that bad boy in ten minutes and then made the drunk decision... One last pitcher for last call! ...the smell of the sawdust takes me back! Got up early Monday morning to spend some time with Max before school... Just in time to catch these rugrats before dinner and bedtime. Later that afternoon, I picked up Brett and we went to hang with Dad in the hospital. Brett showing off his moves in Superhot VR. ...to play some VR! Dexter trying to get a puff of that sweet vape. My dad's brother Bruce and his two sons Chris & Steve all came to the hospital to visit my dad. All the Battjer boys in one place! Set up to hang with my dad. ...and some heated shuffleboard! After dinner, the cousin's headed to the excellent Florida stripmall bar, Harpers, for drinks.... ...when we were feeling like this. Props to the Uber driver who had to pick up our rowdy drunk asses several hours later.... Thanks for coming along with me, Brett! I had originally planned on just buying the truck outright, but my brother told me that I should apply for their 4-year, 0% financing. I have never had a credit card and don't have much of a credit history, so my brother offered to co-sign with me! ...my parent's video conferencing with newly arrived baby Sam back in DC. Cute moment catching... Brett and I got to unbox a videogame system together for the first time since the early 90s! lol ...where we bought each other NintendoDS so we could play in the hospital and kill some time together. ...and then headed over to Best Buy... After a few hours in the morning, Brett and I went out to grab lunch... His dad popped on to say hi also! Once the kids were asleep, we had another VR party! Brett & Sam. Max likes to help dad with things. ....came over for dinner. Proud papa with number two! After Max was asleep, Brett busted out his VR set up and we took turns playing. Brothers! Had a lovely back yard fire man-hang with my brother's nextdoor neighbor Craig. He wanted to try on the shirt and he wanted... ...and took the subway out to Brooklyn. ...to the Subway Museum! ...to my apartment in the East Village! Later that night we installed a cool, Captain America shield night light in Max's room. After all the presents were opened... ...and Shannon and Melissa. Once we got to nap time... Brett on putting-things-together duty. Let the upwrapping begin! Cut to 7am Christmas morning! ...which included incorrectly cutting the top instead of the bottom of one of his pocket doors. (Sorry, Brett!) ...I helped my brother with some of his to-do items. All set up! Very excited to wake up and unwrap his presents in the early morning. Got Max ready for bed in his Christmas Jammies. Haha. Love this pic! The inaugural ride! On Saturday morning I helped Brett assemble Max's birthday bike. That swingset feeling. My parents had rented family beach house in LBI! Hung out in the backyard with Brett and supervised his new BBQ! Fun to watch the next generation of cousins in the pool together! On Sunday we headed over to my cousin Chris' house! Lotsa boy Battjers & Dexter the dog! Max thinks it's hilarious that Maddy fits into her dog carrier and wanted to see... ...and hung out with Brett & Max! My brother and I thought we were going to be all hot shit and outshoot the old guys, but it turns out my Uncle Tom and his brothers all brought their own handguns and PRESSED THEIR OWN BULLETS. They were all crack-shots. Three drunk Battjers. Later that evening, we got dressed up and headed to the wedding! On Saturday we took Max to the park... Brett, Amy & Max! Every night after Max goes to bed, Teddy all but leaps into Amy's arms. My turn for attention! That evening, our parents watched Max and Brett & Amy went out for a much needed kid-free meal. The next day it was 70 degrees out! Crazy town! Brett played some guitar. Max was eager to help with the strumming.
