Ohio Visit

Paul and I got back last night from a three day trip to Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio, where we visited with my brothers.   Glenn lives in Kentucky, across the river from Cincinnati, and Jim had come out from Utah to visit three of his children who live in the area.  Jean flew out with me and Paul, so we had a great reunion of all my siblings and many of my nieces and nephews and their children. 

Here's us four "kids" all together.  

And here's Jean and Paul with my sister-in-law, Jan, and my neice, Amanda.   We stayed at Glenn and Jan's house and enjoyed their warm and comfortable hospitality.

It sure worked out well that Glenn and Jan had a baby a year after Paul was born, since Paul has an Ohio cousin practically his age.   Amanda and Paul have always gotten along well, and this visit was no exception.   We flew out right after a snowfall and then it snowed again the next night, meaning that Paul not only got the several inches of snow that he wanted, but that he had kids to enjoy it with.  

In Amanda Paul also found a playmate for my "most disliked" game, Monopoly.  They are a great time playing it, even though for a while Paul was losing badly.  

My niece Tamara has two boys, Reed, and Spencer, who Paul remembered well from our last visit.  They picked up right where they had left off, rough housing with their bigger cousin. 

And the babies!  Oh, what fun it was to see the new babies again.  They were just wee ones last Christmas, but now Norah and Summer are toddlers and are developing their own unique personalities.     

It's amazing how entertaining toddlers are.  Amanda and Paul could hardly keep their eyes off of Summer.

Summer took a great liking to Paul, even giving him a spontaneous hug, which I just happened to catch on my camera.  

It was a happy visit.  We went straight from the Columbus airport to Tamara's new house, where we caught up with her and her family and admired her new home.  On Saturday Daniel and Laura hosted a family party at their new home near Cincinnati.  We all enjoyed being in these lovely homes.  You sure get a lot for your money out in that part of the country, and it was fun to see how Tamara and Daniel had decorated their new digs.  

We are so lucky to enjoy each other's company so much.  I asked Paul what he liked best about the trip, thinking he would say the snow.  Instead he said "being with everyone."  Jean and I agreed completely. 

So now we are home, getting ready for a houseful of people for New Year's Eve.  Ben's brother, Johnny, and his family will be here along with Paul's friends, Bryan and Robbie, and their sister, Julie.  The adults will do some adult things, the kids will do some kid things, and we all will ring in 2013 with balloons and noise makers.  It should be fun!