Family Vacation!

We just got back from our annual vacation to Massachusetts to visit my family. It was such a good visit! Gracie was so excited to fly on the airplane and to see Nana and Papa, that is all she was talking about in the days leading up to our trip. We arrived on the 6th and Leia picked us up from the airport - it was so awesome to see her! We stayed in a hotel for the first night because we got in late and our condo that we stay in was not going to be ready until the next afternoon. Saturday was great because I got to see my mom, brother, Jessica and we finally got to meet Avery (Glen & Jess's baby). It was so good to see them all and Avery is so adorable! On Sunday we had a get together with lots of family. It was so nice to see everyone that I hadn't seen in so long. It was awesome to see my dad, I really miss him throughout the year. I wish that his boat was still in the water so that we could have gone out and done some fishing, the weather was great and it would have been nice to get out on the water. My mom did a great job preparing dinner for everyone, she made a full Thanksgiving dinner and lasagna. It was very nice of her to have purchased and prepared all of the food and drinks and getting the condo for everyone to stay in for the week. In addition to meeting my niece Avery for the first time, I also got to meet my other niece Riley for the first time. She is my brother Sean's daughter and she is absolutely beautiful! It was nice to see Sean, Lissha and Morgan too. It was just great to see all of the family who drove down to see us and spend some time together. I really love the time that we all get to spend together but the trips never seem to last long enough. On Monday I finally got to go bowling with Glen again. I think it's been about 12 or 13 years since we've gone bowling together. He is the reason why I love bowling so much and I have been waiting a long time to go with him again. It would have been better if I didn't have to use house balls and shoes though.. It was a great time either way and I can't wait to do it again. A couple of days later we went to see my sister at her house. Let me just say that I am completely jealous about the view that she has!! She has a deck outside her door that is right on the water and you can see Boston from across the harbor. I wish it was a bit lighter outside so I could have gotten some pictures, maybe next year. During our trip we also went to see Nana Grace's grave site. I like to make it down there to say hello once during our trip. I want Gracie to know who we named her after and to know how much Nana Grace meant to me and to know about the times that we shared when I was a little boy. I'm looking forward to when Grace gets a little older and we can let her stay with Nana and Papa for 1 or 2 weeks a year by herself so she can build the same type of relationship with them that I had with my Nana. I can't believe that she has been gone for 15 years already. Overall, the trip was VERY good! We had some great times with my family and I can't wait to do it again next year!! ~11/15/09