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Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Christmas Road Trip

Christmas holidays went by quickly for Grenville and myself as they were taken up largely by visits to family and friends in several states. This longish post is a photo summery of all the folks we visited during our 1,000 mile+ trip.

First stop was RI where we spent Christmas Day with the grands and their mom.
As the grandkids have gotten older, their holiday gifts no longer consist of toy as grandson enjoyed a new metronome and granddaughter received a new iPad.
He recently had a December birthday and one of his birthday/Christmas gifts from Grandpa Grenville was an electric keyboard. He showed his sister how to play it for an impromptu performance.

Next stop on the Christmas family visits was a stop in CT to spend time with Grenville's aunt and uncle.

We've been taking Christmas photos with long-time friends Sara and David whenever we've gotten together during the holidays. They live in our native NJ and this was first time in several years that we were able to continue this "tradition." (Sara and Dorothy are former high school classmates and remain close friends.) 

We even managed to get a "selfie" with all four of us thanks to Grenville's long reach.

One of the most wonderful visits during our NJ stop was having breakfast with these ladies: Virginia (L) and Margaret (R). These 90+ year old women were both friends of my late mother's and met after her passing 5 years ago. They live within 5 miles of one another and talk on the phone nightly. I also talk with them weekly. They are amazing and graceful ladies and we never miss a chance to spend time with them when in NJ.

In NJ, we spent time with family, including newest family members, great nieces, Autumn Rose (L) and Savannah Marie (R). These two cousins were born in Oct 2019, 2 weeks apart. We met Autumn at Thanksgiving, but this was our first time meeting Savannah who's relocating to FL with her parents later this year.

In a baby switch, our two nieces are each holding their niece. Julie is holding her niece, Savannah while her sister, Jamie is holding niece, Autumn.
Happy grandparents shown above are my brother Tony and his wife, Anita, who became first-time grandparents twice within 2 weeks in 2019. Looks like they have their hands full.

It looked like Autumn and Ernie were quite taken with one another. We learned that she enjoys Sesame Street and figured this would be a great gift. Her mom, Julie, has since told us that Ernie travels everywhere with her.


After the NJ visit, we visited with youngest granddaughter and her mom.

As per our usual habit, we took selfies in places stayed overnight during our 2019 Christmas to New Year's Eve road trip with stops in RI, CT, NJ, PA and NY covering over 1,000 miles. It was great to see everyone (and we did) during the holiday, but in Christmas 2020 we're planning a quiet NH holiday at home. (It will be our gift to ourselves.)

22 comments:

Goldendaze-Ginnie said...

Wow, you certainly did it up big. I'll bet your families love all the pictures that you took.

DUTA said...

I've greatly enjoyed your family photos. Blessings to everyone in those photos!
The picture with the two 90+ ladies is amazing!!

MadSnapper said...

I think my favorite is Autumn and Ernie having a stare down, but a close second is the nieces held by the others moms. love that. what a great way to spend the holidays and 1000 miles

Valerie said...

Lovely photographs of your family, and you of course. I envy you, my grandchildren and their children are all overseas and they never think to send photographs.






Anonymous said...

Lovely family photos. Looks like a wonderful holiday adventure with loved ones. I like your idea for 2020. That is truly a gift to yourselves.

Annsterw said...

WOW! That is as many miles as I traveled!!! What a great post! So terrific to see all of your loved ones - isn't it nice to have so many people that want you to visit! #soloved

Jon said...

Your holiday trip was long and probably exhausting, but judging from the happy/charming photos it was well worth it.
I love the photo of those two 90+ year old ladies. So sweet.

And that electric keyboard is a great gift. My electric keyboard was "lost" when I moved to TN, and I'm seriously considering getting another one.

Michelle said...

Looks like you had the best time. Those sweet babies have the best hair!

Edna B said...

I love all these wonderful photos of you and your family. How wonderful it was that you could get to visit with all of them. I think your gift to yoursleves for next Christmas is awesome! You have a super day, hugs, Edna B.

Anvilcloud said...

what a tour! I can believe that you will want a quieter Christmas next year. What heads of copious dark hair on those babies.

Emma Springfield said...

What a glorious family you have. Blessings one and all. I'm not going to tell you how grown up Bobby is and that I can't believe he is 13 already. I'm just not.

Rain said...

Those photos are all so cute and happy! I love Ernie! :) So glad you had a great time, but yeah, that was a LOT of travel! 2020 will be a nice quiet holiday for you!!

Nil @ The Little House by the Lake said...

It looks like you had a wonderful time with many family members and friends.

Connie said...

Wonderful photos, and I'm sure they bring great memories of your travels too.

Buttercup said...

Your little ones are so so cute and the babies stole my heart. I'm originally a New Englander, too. I grew up in Connecticut and went to school in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Cousins are all over Connecticut and Massachusetts. May drift back in that direction one day.

diane b said...

That would have been so nice to see all those members of your family but I guess it would have been quite hectic too. Good idea to have a quiet one at home next time.

Christina said...

How wonderful to have a big family! It looks like you had a fabulous Christmas road trip.

baili said...

Oh dear Dorothy such a precious post filled with lots of cute and happy faces
your grandchildren are growing fast by the grace of Lord :)

i agree as they grow old their gifts become more meaningful and expensive .i liked the piano most :)
how lovely to meet friends of your late mom ,i do so when i get back to my village it is so wonderful and reliving with so many memories

you had such beautiful time and trip i can see that
more blessings!

TARYTERRE said...

what an adventure you had. wonderful memories made, to keep. i enjoyed seeing all your photos.

L. D. said...

It is a lot of fun to see family photos. Your grand kids are all the greatest. I am sure it was good to be all together.

My name is Erika. said...

I'm finally getting around to comment. It looks like you had a very festive holiday. So many wonderful looking people to celebrate with. That's what it should be, right? Happy 2020. Hugs-Erika

William Kendall said...

It sounds like you had fun.