Shortly after Christmas I decided to pack the kids up and head to New York to visit my hometown. We left Virginia on the 29th of December, spent the night just short of Wilkes Barre in a gorgeous suite at the Residence Inn and got into Rome the following day. When we got there, we celebrated our Christmas together with my Mom, Pete and the girls and attempted a New Year's celebration the next night. I say "attempted" because we were all asleep by ten p.m. so therefore missed the ball drop. One word...typical :)
It's been a pretty uneventful trip, though very cold and therefore we have been spending a lot of time indoors trying to keep warm. Haven't had too much snow though but I have a feeling the "best" is yet to come still since we are in the snow belt up here! Just wait till February! Was glad to get over to see my brother who I miss dearly. I hope and pray that he finds the strength to make some changes in his life. He's a smart kid and I hate to see him struggle.
Had a nice holiday celebration and dinner with Nana Waller (Dad's mother), aka "Mimi". She just returned from a trip to see my Aunt Barb (Dad's sister) and her family over the Christmas holiday and seems to be doing really well. It was really nice to get together with her and the kids. We plan on getting together again this week and visiting with my Aunt Pat and Uncle Carm (Dad's sis and brother-in-law). I can't wait. I miss them all.
A few nights after our visit with Nana, we went up to spend some time with Aunt Gigi, Uncle Jeff and Shelbey (Mom's sis and family) where we had a nice dinner and then Caitlyn stayed over for a slumber party and got to see her favorite dog "Lenny". Visited with an old friend of the family as well who I have known since I was a baby, Cheri. It was great to see everyone and hope to get together again before we leave. While I was in town as well, I snuck out with two of my sisters - Sarah and Kristen, and saw what all the hype was about regarding Avatar in 3D. Man was that AWESOME! I managed to fall asleep in the last few minutes (that's a given) but I was filled in. Definitely going to be one to add to the shelf when it comes out on video. Great flick.
Also during our trip, my second to youngest sister, Sarah turned 21! We had a pasta night with chicken riggies and a sundried tomato, spinach and artichoke pasta , both homemade by my mom. The pasta dishes were absolutely incredible. That woman can cook!!!! My youngest sister Kristen, made a cake resembling a cat litter box, including fake poo. It was delicious (seriously)! It was also Nate's "half-birthday" so we made the kids little star cakes and frosted them with some really colorful frosting! It was Nate's first experience with cake and we put it on his tray and he went to town. He practically ate the whole thing and went buck wild! He's 22.6 pounds now and growing steadily!!! My little man is bigger than a one-year old!
Our trip is due to conclude on Saturday which is fine because we are all getting edgy to leave. I love my family but there is no place like home where you can feel at home. My mom is going to drive down with me to help with the kids and fly back later in the week. It's worth it to me. It's worth it. Wish my hubby was here with us. We miss him more that words can explain and therefore our holiday has been very incomplete with out his presence, but we are down to three months left! Just knowing this is his final deployment is very uplifting. Well everyone, stay tuned!
