First, we moved away from New Jersey, possibly forever. The state gave us a very lovely send-off, though. The weather was truly lovely up until the day we departed, with highs in the 60s and 70s Fahrenheit. That's quite warm, and very unusual for that part of the world.
I took these pictures the day before we departed, after dropping Jonathan off at the bus stop for the last time. The leaves were all gone from the woods, but the fog made it pretty.
Will Jonathan miss school in New Jersey? Maybe. But he wasn't too disappointed to leave school a week before everyone else, missing several tests scheduled for Friday. Now he's heading into the summer holidays for a month.
From New Jersey, we headed to Utah, for Fabulous Family Time! (And a weekend work conference for me.)
Our first day in Utah, we ran errands, like dentist and haircuts. Jonathan lost 2 inches of hair. I chopped off 4. And Tim chopped off 12 inches! Here is the before picture:
And since then, we have filled the days mostly with dear people. On Thursday, we went to lunch with my dear friend Norma, and dinner with my dear aunt Janice and her two granddaughters. On Friday we visited Tim's grandfather, and went to lunch with his mother and dinner with his papa Don. Saturday was my conference, followed by dinner with my in-laws and cousin, and then a family party with aunts and uncles. And Sunday we saw Tim's cousin and family, and my sister and her family.
Kind of becoming a blur of people, isn't it?
Monday we went sledding and built a snowman in the school yard just behind my parents' house.
That evening, I scored a free ticket to Star Wars from my brother-in-law, who had extras from his work party. My sisters and sisters-in-law all ditched their children and saw the movie together.
Tuesday morning we went ice skating with cousins, at a nearly empty rink (aside from the gazillion-of-us cousins). After another full day of cousins, we drove to eat dinner and play games with dear friends further south. And then Wednesday we visited my high school friend Alison, who was also our friend in grad school, followed by basketball at the neighborhood church, and then a family photo with 36 people! For Jonathan, Tim, and I, it was our first family photo for years. I will post a copy as soon as I own one legally. And then dinner and games with my cousins further south, visiting my aunt near the house we just sold.
Are we done yet?
No!
Thursday at Tim's parents' house, seeing his cousin and grandfather and aunt and uncle one more time, sharing dinner, opening presents. Friday at my parents' house, seeing my brothers and sisters and their children one more time, opening presents.
White Christmas! My dad had to shovel the walk. I don't have to shovel snow anymore. Maybe ever.
Ok. Now I think we are caught up. Tomorrow we fly to Australia to start life all over again.
I guess there is one more question that has to be asked.
Will we miss it? Will we miss all this?
Well, this type of crazy week only happens every few years after careful planning. We will make sure that we don't miss it the next time all our family and friends conspire to be in the same place over Christmas.
Will we miss the snow?
No. Summertime for New Year's Eve! We're looking forward to it!
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