Background info:

My Grandparents on my Papa’s side have lived in the mountains of western North Carolina for years. They are 93 and 92, and have been in declining health for the last several years. They love their little home in the mountains, and would be crushed to ever leave it for a nursing home. A little over a year ago, my wonderful Papa and Mama gave up much of their life to move down to NC with my Grandparents and take care of them. They pared down their lifetime of belongings so that they could fit into the upstairs of Grandpa and Grandma’s log home – two bedrooms and a bathroom (with some understandable spillage into a storage area). I could write extensively about what an amazing example my folks are to us in this, but I’ll leave it at that for now. My Grandparents are now called the GG’s (Great Grandpa = G’Gpa; Great Grandma = G’Gma).

I have other family in the mountains of western NC – several of Papa’s cousins live close to them, as well as a Great Aunt, who lost her husband earlier this year and is a nursing home. My Great Uncle and Aunt’s house is now known as “The Cottage” and is often used for out of town guests. My brother and his family live a couple hours away.

We spent the first couple days of our vacation in this beautiful area. My Mama’s Mama and sisters (along with a dear family friend) came up from their homes in Florida to see us, and stayed in The Cottage. We spent the first day at The Cottage visiting with my Florida family. It was neat to see how our Blessings adjusted to seeing lots of people who love them dearly, but whom they had not seen for a couple years, or in G’s case, hadn’t met before. We had fun exploring the property and visiting. In the evening, J and Papa made a bonfire and Papa’s cousins and their kids/grandkids came over to make S’mores with us. Lots of fun!

An interesting side-note on my wonderful hubby. J was not raised in a “huggy” family, but he has adjusted wonderfully to my hugginess and that of my extended family. He did say good naturedly, however, on the way to my Grandparents that night, “I’m not sure about this having to hug people before I even know who they are!” But … he did hug ’em! 😀

After the S’mores, we followed my folks to my Grandparents’ house (which is also Papa and Mama’s now, but we’ll just call it the G’G’s). I didn’t think they’d still be awake, but we got to visit with them briefly before we headed for bed. There is a little two room cabin at the G’Gs where J and I slept, along with our three girls, and the three boys slept in the bedroom in the main house that my folks have turned into their “sitting room.”

Good night Day 1! And now it’s time to get the Blessings’ Fall/Winter clothes down from the attic!