Grandma's 80th

Last week-end we made a whirlwind trip to Pennsylvania and back. Grandma had turned 80 earlier in the week and a party was planned for Saturday. I had been thinking a lot about her and as insane as the trip sounded we decided to go. We packed up the family and drove 11 hours on Friday to get there and then 11 hours back home on Sunday so Jared could work on Monday.  It was really fun and great to see a lot of family.  Turns out that an 11 hour drive isn't so bad when Jared and I had a lot of things to discuss and decide on since the project here is coming to a close.   The kids were wonderful.  Seriously, I don't know how our parents did it without DVD players in the car.  As long as I kept the movies coming, they were content.

Me, Grandma, Aunt Faye, and Uncle Bob

Grandma and me

Mother and son

Jared, Terra, Elizabeth, and Robert (we always love a chance to get together with my cousin and her husband.  We have so much fun with them.  They are expecting their first in August!!)

Cindy and Shari

Bella and Mima

Aunt Faye, me, and Bella

Delinda and Scott

Aunt Kathy and Maria

Katy, Emma, and Xandy (I can't believe how much Emma grew up since we saw them last.  It scares me since she is only two years older than Katy.  My baby cousin went from little girl to young women over night)

Aunt Kathy and Uncle Bob

Xandy and Pop Pop at Grandma's house

Mima and Katy

I got to go for a refreshing mountain run on Saturday.  I pushed myself hard to run a few miles up the mountain road, promising myself the ease of the return downhill.  Overall it was beautiful and refreshing.  The lingering snow on the ground added to the overall effect.   But, it turns out I forgot to take into account the wind.  I was running straight into strong winds on the way back down.  I did not pack enough cold weather running clothes so I was pretty frozen by the time I got back.  Its hard to think gloves and hat when its 70 degrees when you're packing.  Despite the cold and wind, the kids had fun running and exploring outside.  My Dad owns the land next to Grandma's so there was lots of room for them to run and play.  I'm told Uncle Martin was even nice enough to take them to look at the horses while I was running.  A horse farm is adjacent to the family land and as we were leaving I realized I hadn't taken them to see the horses but they assured me they had gotten to see them anyway.

On a funny side note: My grandma saves everything.  There is absolutely no way to describe the amount of things in her house.  You have to see it to understand it.  She worked at a library for years and when they were pulling books from circulation, she would bring them home.  There are literally thousands and thousands of books in her basement.  There is barely room to walk from one end to the other.  We used to go to Grandma's a lot while we were in Cleveland, but since the move this is only the second time we've been back.  Jacob doesn't remember it at all, and Bella was even too young to remember much.  We were the first people to arrive (Grandma was even still at Aunt Karen's house in Philly), after I let us in, Bella looked around the house.  "Have we ever been here before?" she asked.  Xandy replied "Of course we have, lots of times".  Then she added in an excited voice "There's even a whole library in the basement, come on I'll show you".  I had to laugh.  I'm afraid of the basement and apparently,children think its pretty cool.