Family Once More

Tomorrow we take our leave of Massachusetts and begin our wanderings back home to Florida. We've planned a circuitous route via upstate New York and Northern Virginia to visit old friends and then...well, who knows? We're not in a hurry, so we'll likely get sidetracked by all sorts of attractions en route -- the kind of places we always bypassed on previous trips because we simply didn't have the time or could not imagine visiting with four kids in tow. We'll see.

All eight of our grandchildren are, of course, exceptional children, and we ask God's blessing on them all. But our special treat on this trip was being there for the birth and subsequent Baptism of newly born Benedito. As any grandparent knows, visiting with children and grandchildren is always a joy. Naturally, Diane and I have been encouraging them all to come stay with us in sunny Florida. We probably won't see any of them real soon, but once the weather up here changes, Florida becomes a much more attractive place to visit.

For the past few days we've been staying at a local hotel while visiting our younger daughter and her husband, along with their two wonderful boys, Ezekiel and Phineas -- two great Old Testament names. It's been fun just playing with our grandsons and catching up on family stuff. As usual, I've taken far too many photos, and have included a few below...

Daughter, Siobhan, and Diane

Diane with Grandson, Phineas

Grandson, Ezekiel, Just Enjoying Life

Our journey may not be as momentous as Pope Benedict's current visit to the UK, but we're doing our bit as we travel and visit.

More to come...