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Recently we traveled home to Ohio to celebrate Chip's grandmother's 90th birthday.  She doesn't look a day over 70, you'll see in the pictures below.  Chip's parents put on an excellent surprise party full of family from literally all over the globe, great eats, and a slide show put together by Derek of pictures from Gammy when she was Ruby and Owen's age to present.  The whole thing was awesome.   As long as we made the trek across two time zones we stayed for a week and visited with this eastern clan that we miss so much.   

Nana and Papa have the most excellent kitchen.  Owen and Ruby LOVED eating with a view of the backyard and busy birdhouse.  

 The backyard is incredible as well...like a farm...donkeys, horses, woods to explore, and more.  Owen was not afraid of the animals at all...neither was Ruby...maybe she should have been.  This donkey was eating her jacket and might have liked a bite of that buddah belly next!

Nana and Papa themselves are pretty amazing.  Braving the cold to hit the swings with us, playing on the floor when possible, and not minding when we leave their toys EVERYWHERE around the house.  Nana and Papa have lots of really cool toys in their basement playroom which is every grand kid's dream and joy.

 The cousins! It is SO fun to see Ruby and Owen getting to a stage where they can actually interact and sort of play with their cousins.  Owen loved to follow Judah around and Ruby thoroughly enjoyed her time with big cousin Selah- see video of those two below- too cute.  Great to have Finn and Nola join us for the last few days too so ALL the DuRoss cousins could be together for a few fun filled days.

Even Morgan made a stop by.  They love their buddy from the beach as you can see from the smiles on their faces. :)

 Just some fun pics of swingin, makin bottles (WITHOUT heating it- they kicked this habit on our first day of the trip...and have since picked it back up since being home...oh well, we'll keep trying) while having a bottle myself, and Ruby enjoying some of Hope's fun decorating.

 Here we are with Gammy.  At this point she thinks we are just in town for a few days on a layover on our way to PA.  She says she bought this story and didn't have any idea that we were staying for a party.  I believe her and am glad we didn't ruin the surprise by needing some extra Gammy time in our trip.

Love this one of Gammy helping Ruby walk to the table for dinner.

 You always gotta do a crazy one.  And, after a lot of research, we have concluded that when people do a "crazy photo" without much time to think about it ahead of time, most people open their mouths.  Not posting this one, but research also has shown that when asked to another "crazy photo" most people do something with their hands.  If you have similar family photos, compare the data and let me know what you find. 

And a nice regular one...minus Owen and Ruby who had already gone to bed.  A 7:30 bedtime does not leave one much time for partying.  Oh well, next time.

I almost forgot to include this special picture we got right at the end of our visit with one of my favorite dedicated readers.  I was so fun to see Aunt Laura and Uncle Al in person with the kiddos after sharing so much via the world wide web.  We miss all of you!

Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years.  We grow old by deserting our ideals.  Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.  ~Samuel Ullman