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Monday, February 25, 2008

aloha!

Last week Todd's parents flew back to Hawaii after a month long visit to the Fort. This was his Mom's first trip back since moving there in October 0f 2004. Todd's Dad has been back quite a few times but this was their first trip back together. It was nice having them both here at the same time. This gave Olivia ample time to get to know them better. She had never met Todd's Mom, Caralyn, and Olivia was only eight months old the last time she saw her G.P. (stands for grandpa...what all of the grand kids call Todd's Dad), so it was like she was meeting him again for the first time too. And since Olivia is going through her snobbish stage where she will only acknowledge those in her close inner circle, I knew it would take her awhile to warm up to them.

Todd's Mom had lots to catch up on when arriving in town...like the fact that she now has two granddaughters! When they moved to Hawaii in 2004 she left 8 grand boys behind. Needless to say she was quite thrilled to come back to more grand kids and knowing that it was in fact possible for the Menors to produce little girls! I know that although they enjoy living in Hawaii it is quite hard for them to be away from the majority of their family. Here is a quick breakdown...Todd, his brothers VJ and Barry, as well as his sister Angie all live here in Fort Wayne.

Angie has three boys...one of them is currently in the military, the oldest is living in Hawaii with Todd's parents, and the youngest lives in Fort Wayne with his mother.

Barry has three kids as well...two boys, and their brand new baby girl, Ella. Someday Olivia and Ella will be best friends since they are the only two girl grand kids in the family.

Finally there is VJ, Todd's oldest brother, who has three boys...

So after spending a few weeks at home with everyone they made a huge decision...TO MOVE BACK! I know...you are all thinking, "why in the world would they choose to move from Hawaii back to Fort Wayne, Indiana?" Well I think they realized just how hard it is to be that far away from your family. They missed seeing the grand kids grow up and decided that after three years, it was time to come home. They are planning on building a house and hope to be home by early fall. So a simple visit home caused them to make a huge decision and we could not be happier!

While they were home we did quite a few things as a family. A few days before leaving we had a huge family gathering at Barry's house. Needless to say it is pure chaos when we get that many kids in the same house, but it is fun and Olivia just loves being around her big cousins! We attempted to take some family photos but trying to get all of the kids to look at the camera at the same time is nearly impossible. Olivia was tired and not in the mood to have her picture taken as you can see in some of the takes, but we did manage to get some good family photos.

It was nice having Todd's parents home for a visit and we are so happy that they will be coming back to Fort Wayne permanently. At least they got to enjoy over three years in beautiful Hawaii...not to shabby! And Olivia will go from having one grandparent...to three grandparents that will want to spoil her silly! What a lucky girl!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Since our family is relatively small, I am pleased that Olivia has such a large family on her daddy's side. It is wonderful to have so many aunts, uncles and cousins. She is a lucky girl, and I am happy to share her (some of the time).
Nana

Anonymous said...

The month that they were home just FLEW by!!! Can't wait until they are home for good. It was great to spend so much quality time as a family...something that we don't have a chance to do...but will definitely be making up for in the fall. I know that Olivia isn't hurting for anything now...but just wait until they get to spoil her up close and personal...better get a bigger house!! LOL

Anonymous said...

Olivia is very lucky to have such a nice big family. She is very loved on both sides. I can't wait to see pictures of her and Ella someday when they are older...they will be too cute. Aunt Sue Sue

Wormie said...

How wonderful! It will be great for Todd's parents to be near all those cute grandkids!!!
Sounds like it was a great visit!