Aunt Cindy

Anyone who really knows me knows about my mother and my childhood. My mom had two sisters with one of them being my Aunt Cindy.  Aunt Cindy had kept in contact with my sisters and me when we were taken away from our mother and put in foster care and then onto being adopted. Ever since I can remember, I remember getting birthday cards, Christmas gifts and little things along the way in the mail from her. She lost contact with my mother when we did, almost 18 years ago. Hard to believe it has been that long. But once I graduated from High School, and saved up some money, I went out to Florida to visit her. For the first time I got to meet Aunt Cindy, her husband Tom and my sweet little (who is not so little) cousin Glenn. I even got to meet my grandma and great grandma too!! That was a surreal experience being able to hug someone in my extended biological family.  From then on, Cindy and I had bonded and have kept in close contact through emails and phone calls.

The week before Thanksgiving she called me up and asked if she could extend her trip from Nashville to come see us the first week in January!! You can imagine my excitement as my last family member who was here was my sister Lisa back when Jackson was only 3 weeks old!! 

When I first saw her at the airport I could not believe how much she looked like my mother! She had dyed her hair blonde, and you can tell they were sisters if not twins!! Cindy's visit was the most relaxing visit I've had in a long time. She always was smiling, always wanted a Bud Light and was always making great conversation.  The kids LOVED her the second they met her. They showed off quite a bit. I'm sure she loved it but also was happy to get back to peace and quiet!  I cannot wait to get back down to Florida to see the rest of the clan. We miss you Aunt Cindy! 

My beautiful Aunt Cindy!

One our first things we did in Charlotte was I took her to The Tipsy Paintbrush!

We had the best time! Here is Cindy's Owl and my Gremlin Turkey. :)

One of Great Grandma's "things" was making homemade gnocchi for the Holiday's. Cindy took over this tradition and showed me how to do it. 

It was so fun and it tasted absolutely AMAZING! 

We went to my favorite place....The winery!! We had a great day. 

Jackson found my stash of chocolates in the freezer and he was calling me out!

MONKEY JOE'S!

We went to see Frozen in the theater. It was really cute but to be honest it was girly! 

Grandma and Pop Pop invited over for dinner one evening. It was so nice to have them meet. 

Hummm..I wonder where Jack gets his humor from? 

I pretty much think he is the coolest. I love you Jackson O'Hare.

We had a Wii Dance off and it was FUN! 

AND the boy's exhaust me. I swear I can not lay on the floor without them on top of me in .2 seconds! 

A few of my friends were able to have lunch with Cindy and finally meet someone in my family! It was really nice on both ends. 

Our last hurrah at The Mellow Mushroom on our way to the airport. I loved our visit!