On May 31, 2011 (yes, my birthday) My grandfather passed away. I was his shadow from the day I was born and I will greatly miss him. I am so thankful for the gospel and my faith in the plan of salvation - to have the knowledge that I will see him again is priceless to me. I've been sad, but overall I've been blessed with a sense of peace and comfort knowing that he and Grandma are finally united and that his body is no longer holding him back. So it is a new chapter in my life - I now have no grandparents on this earth and I no longer have my weekly phone call to grandpa. I'll miss his stories, his jokes, and most of all his advice. I know he loved and I know that he knows how much I loved him. So until we meet again.
In order to attend the funeral my little family packed up the car and took the 10 hour drive to Las Vegas where we got to stay for 5 days. The girls finally got quality time with their cousins and know everyone's names! I got to spend great time with all of my siblings which I have missed since moving to California. My family got a chance to really get to know my husband and children besides just relying on the stories I would tell when we talk on the phone. So the trip was actually a wonderful experience. It would be nice to gather on better circumstances, but I like to think that Grandpa helped bring it all together. We enjoyed our time in Vegas - took the girls to see the sharks and other attractions on the strip, pool parties with the cousins, etc.
The girls love their cousins and miss them greatly since we left. As we were leaving Vegas - out of nowhere Allison started crying saying she didn't want to lose her family. My first thought was that the funeral had scarred her, but she further explained that she didn't want to leave Vegas because that meant leaving her cousins and she didn't want to leave. We assured her that we would come back and visit and that cousins would come visit us and that she wasn't losing anyone. I have to admit once I realized she was scarred from the funeral and she just was going to miss everyone I was a little happy that she had had such a good time that she didn't want to leave.
We made it up by hitting Disneyland on the way back. I like Disneyland, but I don't love it and that feeling didn't really change with kids. We had a lot of fun, but I'm definitely more excited for the fact that Ed bought us season passes to Six Flags. The girls of course loved it and we stayed until the park closed and it was a little gratifying when both girls completely passed out on the 5 minute drive back to our timeshare. PS our timeshare was AWESOME! We ended up in the Presidential Suite and that is definitely a lifestyle that is nice. The room was just awesome and I was sad we were only there for one night.
We got home on Saturday after a very long drive. But I must say...our girls ROCK! They hardly complained - they didn't have to pee every hour and the slept most of the way. These kids travel well. I think we complained more than they did, but then again they had a movie to watch and we didn't. =)
So we successfully completed our first real family vacation and I think we had a fabulous trip! Here's to many more (under better circumstances next time please).
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