Time Spent with Family.....Priceless!!

As I mentioned yesterday, our vacation is coming to a close. As much fun as Disney World was, equally fun was the time spent with family. The family we've been visiting are from my moms side; her mom, two sisters and two of their kids. The rest of her siblings are spread out in various states. My family moved to the west coast from Ohio when I was in 4th grade. The only family on the west coast was my moms brother and sister in law so we were separated by thousands of miles from the rest of the family. My mom's family is Italian and everyone is fairly close. We went back to Ohio a few times to visit but then my grandma and grandpa moved to Florida due to my grandpas health. Two of my aunts and a cousin moved there shortly after that. Visits happened but were few and far between and usually it was my grandma and grandpa visiting us. Two years ago was the first time we visited Florida. My grandmother visited us this last May and now we are here again. My grandma whom we fondly call "Ma" is 81 and very together and spry, but we want to see her whenever possible. We already plan to return in 3 years. We have spent much time cooking together, reminiscing and playing games......PRICELESS. My cousin's daughters are 4 and 6 and my girls had so much fun playing with them. They decorated gingerbread houses, swam in the pool, watched movies, played games and danced to Hannah Montana....PRICELESS. It was so fun watching them and remembering when my cousins and I played the same way. Memories were made and will not be forgotten. My grandma is my girls' only living great-grandma and they love spending time with her.....PRICELESS. Last night I treated everyone to a dinner of clam chowder. We served it up with yummy sour dough bread, salad and cranberry casserole. Oh My WORD!! That cranberry casserole was a winner with me and I plan on making it for Christmas. I will post the recipe and pictures then. Today I took Kat to the mall to buy a few gifts and then it was home to jump in the pool one last time before we fly out tomorrow. Right now they are packing their bags and waiting for dinner to finish cooking. It has been a wonderful vacation. On an exciting note, our internet company is going to try coming out and setting us back up again. Hopefully very soon I'll be up and running again! With Joy UNquenchable,