Just missed in Massachusetts!

 We made it!  We did it!  Was there any ever doubt?  Pshaw, we've had this ;-)  I just got word from Grant about 10 minutes ago that his plane had touched down.  So sometime in the next couple of hours the foursome will be reunited and order will be restored to Casa de Gatchel.  (not that it ever really left - I am THE MOM after all ;-) )  But before all that...

We heard bright and early from MOMG this morning about tracking Nita

This very determined little boy read us the following:

Dear Detectives,

Friday afternoon I received your email stating that you felt that Nita was currently hiding out in Massachusetts.  Word at MOMG is that she’s left you clues on everything from Patriots, to Pilgrims to Beans (of a Boston variety!).  I was very impressed with you figuring out from our list of 20 original states which were in New England and then which the Pilgrims could NOT have gone to since they were not on the Ocean.  Good word!

At your suggestions, I dispatched the Swat Team to Massachusetts.  It appears they are still under quite a bit of snow there!  Some parts of the state recived almost three feet of snow earlier in the week!  How tricky of Nita to hide out among the chaos off the storm.  It’s a good thing you were on it – she definitely could have done some damage!  The state is also being overrun with Patriots fans cheering on their home team right now for Sunday’s Big game.  The team quickly knew they had the right location, but Nita was nowhere to be found!  We did though find a puzzle piece which I am enclosing.  Funny story – we found the puzzle piece wedged in a chocolate chip cookie!  She was there but she’s gotten away from us again, it seems.  We were able to alert Massachusetts authorities and the borders are safe!

Also, I am passing along some further information from MOMG Intelligence.  They first ask that you remove Massachusetts from our “States at Risk” wall.  You should move it to our “Suspect” wall next to the “Last Seen” header.   Secondly, they have asked me to enclose the next 20 states they feel are most at risk based on the information they have been gathering.  Thirdly, I am enclosing a ball of yarn.  We would like to use the giant map on the “Tracking Nita” wall to show Nita’s track from state to state, just as we have been doing.  We have a feeling that Nita will be laying low for a day or two and will need some time to regroup, but you should expect her or my Intelligence team to contact you again soon.

I’m very impressed with your work this week, Detectives.  I know it’s been a challenging week since your Dad’s been gone and I am proud of your determination to nab Nita!  Keep it up!

The Chief

One step ahead of us still!  But we followed the instructions and got the next set of states up (who's got a guess??) 

And plotted the next line

Then we spent a fabulous morning and early afternoon with the Janoch crew.  It was a great way to spend this last day 

I mean - how could dinosaurs this cute not be fun?

I noticed that Grant's flight kept getting pushed back, so we decided to do showers and then tackle a couple of projects and do dinner so we'd be ready whenever he did make it home, which currently looks like it'll be closer to bed time.

We were tracking his flight all afternoon

Then Noah got to work on addressing all his class Valentines

And we got started on the box for Mikayla's

Cute, huh?

So we're tentatively supposed to host a little shindig for the Puppy Bowl tomorrow, but that's on hold until we see how jet lagged Grant is by the time he makes it home.  We're going to go to a later mass than usual and kind of just take it easy. Super Bowl is o course on the agenda!  And who else knows what else/  So until then...