We've been looking forward to this weekend for several weeks now, after we learned that Len's cousin Julie and her family (husband Andrew and son Connor) would be coming to Bel Air for a visit while home from Japan! They refer to the USA as the United States of Awesomeness, which we think is just so funny... hearing of the cultural differences first hand as Julie and I sat on the floor talking and playing with our little bundles of joy was so incredibly interesting! It's so hard to imagine that just 2 1/2 years ago, we were celebrating our weddings with one another (we got married only weeks apart from each other), and now we find ourselves introducing our baby sons (who are only about 3 weeks apart in age, Zach being the older of the two). Zachary and Connor's Great-Grandfather joined us for the afternoon as well as Julie's father and we all had such a wonderful time catching up watching our amazing little creatures interact. We celebrated Grandpa's and Julie's birthdays which are coming up this week... any excuse for cake is just fine by me (which certainly doesn't help me shed the baby weight)!
It's family times like this that I just absolutely treasure, and wish I could bottle up and save forever! Grandpa just called to let us know he made it home safe, and shared what a wonderful time he had today... just imagine what it would be like sitting in the chair and cradling your TWO great-grandchildren together for the first time... what a precious moment! Connor is so amazing, and quite a trooper for all of the traveling he's been doing over the past month. I am just sooo happy we had the chance to all hang out - - I can't wait for their next trip, when I hope we can spend even more time together! Once again, I'm reminded that all the planning in the world will not guarantee smooth sailing. We were making out so wonderfully - the house was clean, the food was ready, the drinks were cold, the cake was decorated, the presents were wrapped, the video camera battery was charged, the digital camera battery was charged... what could I possibly be missing?!? Well, right when we started snapping the photos we'll treasure forever as we posed our adorable angels, I took two pictures and guess what? I got the following message on the camera -MEMORY CARD FULL!! Go figure! Julie promised to send me some of the shots I missed, while I rushed to pull out a new card (yes, I actually had one on hand - I am a planner!) and load it into the camera. I managed to get some of the shots, but it was a quick session as Connor was anxious to head back to Annapolis for some much needed down-time (did I mention what a trooper he's been with his world travels?)!!
Here are some of the shots I managed to get... I'll add more to this entry when Julie is able to find some downtime herself and download from her camera.
I have one quick question for anyone out there... if Len and Julie are first cousins, what are Zachary and Connor to one another? I was thinking that Zachary is Julie's second cousin, so what would that make the babies... third cousins? What is the "once-removed" reference, also?? Any insight folks have is most welcomed! : )
2 comments:
I'm a witness (Connor's papa-san); it was as great as described. It's been a blessing for our family that Len and Susan's and Julie and Andrew's lives have been on such a parallel track. And it is so cool that as Zach and Connor grow up, with many more opportunities to be in each other's company at future family gatherings, that we'll have this occasion to look back on (with photo goodness) their first meeting. By the way, since I am Len's uncle, I guess that makes me Zach's great uncle. I don't know about the cousin thing, but it's good to be great at something.
Steve
P.S.
I just went to this web page that explains it all ( http://www.genealogy.com/16_cousn.html ) and it looks like Zach and Connor are second cousins, while Julie and Zach would be first cousins once removed. Let me know if you read it differently.
And thanks for a great afternoon, whoever you are.
S.
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