Aunt Cindy's Visit

¡Bienvenidos!

In early June, my sister Cindy came to visit--which is a very big deal because she lives in Spain and we don't get to see her very often. Oh yeah, and she has eight kids. Yes, eight. :o) So she tends to be rather busy. Cindy came in by herself to visit the family and to spend some time with Grammy. She had never been away from Joe (her husband) and kids for so long, and we were so thankful and excited to see her.


Kate and I picked up Cindy at the Atlanta airport--it was a lot less expensive to fly in and out of ATL rather than flying to Tennessee (where the rest of the family is). Kate wore her Spanish dancing dress that Aunt Cindy bought her--you may remember Kate and her Tennessee cousins wearing the dresses last Halloween. (They were a big hit!) Aunt Cindy brought all the girls matching fans this time around--how sweet! Thank you!


Aunt Cindy also brought Isaac this awesome Barcelona jersey (and shorts, but they aren't pictured). Oh, and a flag from Spain. Who knew that Spain would soon be winning the world cup? (Well, God knew ...) Soccer is VERY big in Joe and Cindy's family. I mean ... HUGE.


Sisters! Cindy and I are almost exactly five years apart. Our birthdays--which are coming up, by the way--are only a day apart. The story goes that I was born during her fifth birthday party--not AT the party, of course, at the hospital. Which is where I would prefer to be born. :o)


That night, Tanna grilled us up some tasty burgers and we visited a bit before Cindy couldn't keep her eyes open. Here she is reading Kate a bedtime story.


The next morning, which was a Friday, we dropped Kate off at Tanna's parents' house before heading to Tennessee to visit the family. (Tanna and Kate stayed in Georgia for the weekend.)


Aunt Cindy showing Kate some wildlife.


We made it to Tennessee and to Grammy and Grampy's house. That night, we all went out to Cracker Barrel--yum! (Apparently, I didn't take many photos this day.)


Here are Cindy, Grammy and Grampy the next morning--bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!


Grammy, Cindy and I met Robin and Johnny and went off on an adventure. Cindy is really into family history--you should see these awesome books about our family she gave us for Christmas. We visited some local cemeteries as well as some family landmarks.


Grammy and Robin


Johnny and Grammy


That afternoon, we had a big meal--which was very delicious, by the way--over at Johnny and Anne's. Here's a group photo.


Evening treat at TCBY. Delicious!


Sibling shot


We all got together again on Sunday. Here's Mom and Cindy before lunch.


After we ate, we took some pictures. Here's the original six.


Mom likes to have a picture of her four kids. Here we are in birth order.


And the whole group that was there that day--we usually have a lot of cameras going off at once, so people are looking in all different directions.


Mom and me

I drove home that Sunday all by myself--which was kind of weird to be in the car alone for so long. It was kind of nice, too, but the driving gets old pretty fast. Anyway, I came home and a few days later Cindy, Grammy and Grampy drove down to the ATL so Cindy could fly back to Spain. (It was right after this that Grammy got so sick and was in the hospital for a week while she was here.) Here is a photo from the night they arrived at our house--wish I'd taken more pictures ...


Some of Cindy's friends that live in the metro area were able to come over to see her. They all used to live in the Knoxville area and have been friends for 20+ years or so!

This was Cindy's last night here. I drove her to the airport at some crazy hour the next morning. It was a great visit that went by so fast. We hope to see Cindy--and her whole family--again very soon! BLY!

P.S. Cindy brought with her this doll pattern--she was stitching it together for Isabel (one of her little girls). There is a sweet story behind the doll, and Cindy was working on it for Isa's birthday. She had each family member do a few stitches, too--isn't that so sweet? Here we are working on ours ...