Over the River & Through the Woods to Grandmother's House we Go!

For Thanksgiving this year K, IB, J and I drove to Illinois - to my parents' house. Let's just say it was a bit of a tight squeeze - IB and J had to share the backseat with each other along with other items we packed. Our original plan was to leave EARLY Wednesday morning (like 4am) and get to my parents' early evening, but thankfully a few of K's co-workers suggested we leave Tuesday after K got off work. After discussing the pros and cons, we decided to leave Tuesday - which was for the best. The motel we stayed at in Newton Falls, OH is where I'm sure they filmed the movie Identity with John Cusack and to make things "worse" it was raining....Identity 2 anyone? In reality, it wasn't that bad - I'm not too picky when it comes to staying in a motel/hotel for one night. I'm glad we did leave Tuesday because we were able to surprise my mom and dad by arriving a lot earlier than expected.

It had been almost a year since I'd seen my siblings and their families. It was so fun Thursday morning when my nieces met their youngest cousin for the first time, they totally loved on her ALL weekend! "Auntie Erin, can I hold IB now?...Auntie Erin, is it my turn to hold IB?...Auntie Erin, where's IB?" Later on Thursday my 2 brothers, their families and my great uncle came over, what a full house - 11 adults and 12 kids 9 years old an younger!

Unfortunately, my grandma couldn't be with us on Thanksgiving. A couple weeks ago she fell outside of church which resulted in a hairline fracture in her hip, so she's been staying at a Senior Living community where she's getting rehab. Even though she couldn't come to us, we all took turns going to visit her.

My mom, sister and I were worried we may not be able to do the generational picture, but turns out we were able to. How many people have been part of a 4 generation family picture? My guess is not too many - boy, am I blessed!

While in town, I was able to meet up with my best friend and two other very close friends! Even though it was a short trip, I made it a priority to see E, A and K. What I love about these 3 girls is that we can go weeks without talking and months without seeing one another, yet when we are together it's like we saw each other last week. That's what I call true friendship. I think the most exciting part about seeing my friends was E meeting IB for the first time! I had been WAITING for them to meet.

On Saturday we took part in some Forced Family Fun, which meant getting together with my aunts, uncles, cousins and second cousins. With some of my family, I can't remember the last time I saw them - that's pretty sad. I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we had a great time! There was bowling, food, laughing, food, kids running around screaming, food, catching up - oh, did I mention food? Hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later when we're all together again.

Now we're back home, after another long drive from IL to VA. Despite long hours in a car, cramped seating, stops to feed and change IB and stops to let J stretch, it was ALL worth it! This road trip gave me time to sit back and reflect on what I am truly thankful for and family and friends are certainly a part of that!