Shufflin' off

 Hey everybody!  It's me!  Boy, I can't tell you how great it feels to catch you up on what in the world we were up to during the month of October.  Blogging on one topic for a whole month was quite a challenge for me.  I'm going to write more this weekend about what I learned during the 31 Day series.  For now, I want to go back to the very beginning of October and let you see our trek.
The first weekend in October, we traveled to Buffalo for the interment of my maternal grandfather.  As I said in this post, I was looking forward to a time of being with family, and seeing for the first time a city in which my family has much history.
The three days away were amazing.   The children had the chance to spend time with their great-grandmother and great aunt and uncles.  We enjoyed so much our time together, eating meals, hearing stories of when my mom and her siblings were young, and of course, remembering Grandfather.  Not only that, but it was one of our longer road trips (I know, we're wimps in that department), and the children (and the grown-ups!) did a great job in the car!
Especially meaningful was meeting my mom's first cousins and their families.  Though we were meeting for the first time, I felt a strong knowledge that we are truly family, and that our lives mean something to each other.  I am so grateful for that connection.

Great-granddaughter and Great-Grandmother

Uncle Steve and my dad

It was bitterly cold and raw in Buffalo.  Theo wore Aunt Susan's shawl in the cemetery.

Hey, these guys are looking so good!

This is everyone at the Buffalo Club.

We made a trip to Niagara Falls that weekend, too.  I'll show you tomorrow.  Happy Friday, y'all!