We were so excited to have Craig's parents come visit us in Maine! They don't do the best flying, let alone across the country, so we were very grateful that they would come to see us. They flew into Manchester so we took advantage of being so close to Sharon, VT and rented a hotel for the night. I wish we had the time to drive them up 5 extra hours to Palmyra, NY but we didn't want the whole week to be all driving. It was nice to visit Sharon again and to see the beautiful country. On the way home that day we took a different way that crossed into the "white mountains" of NH and into Maine. IT WAS GORGEOUS! The leaves were perfect and all the colors popped out. It was a long day of driving though and we were all ready to get home.
We spent Fri just relaxing since we all were tired from driving and they never really got the chance to rest from their flight. We took them to good ol Walmart and bought a couple things for dinner and a movie. We made them our most favorite pizza and made a tomato/mushroom one too. It was so tasty!
Saturday we spend the day shopping down in Freeport and walking around the stores. We wanted to take them to Portland also the same day since it was about 20 min away. We unfortunately times it wrong and ended up at "Portland Headlight" right as they closed. On the coast in Portland there's about 5 different lighthouses so we found another one on the GPS and drove to it. The night was perfect. The moon was shining perfectly over the ocean and we were able to walk out over the rocky coast because of the low tide. While we were there we were all smelling the smell of seafood. We had to go get some. It was a little lobstah shak right next to the ocean where you could even sit outside. We all got a little bit to eat and HAD to get clam chowdah. Nothing can compare to New England Chowdah. It was a little thin, but the flavor was to die for! We ended the night driving back home and Craig stopping for a caffeine fix. ha ha.
Sunday was the typical Sunday. We went to church and enjoyed the fast and testimony meeting. I was so excited because Sis Hatch came back to visit. She got transferred here right when we moved and stayed for about 6 months. Her and I became very close and she was practically a sister to me. She was the person I was praying for to come into my life at the time I needed someone. We only got to visit for a tiny bit between classes, but later that night I had planned a potluck for the branch so we got more time to catch up. I sure miss her! I was a little bummed Craig's parents didn't come with us, but I understand them not wanting to.
Monday Craig had to work in the morning and go to a meeting so we didn't get going until later in the day. Phyllis really wanted to go to the coast and also wanted to get the full "Maine experience" so we took them up to Bar Harbor and dinner was....LOSTAH! The coast again was perfect and the tide was really low so we were able to walk out to an island. We then went to Stewman's for dinner-which was so so good! Larry & I got Maine shrimp, Craig got fish & chips (which in Maine the fish mostly is Haddock), and Phyllis got her lobstah. Oh and we ordered chowdah which was even better than the other night. I'll def be craving that! It was funny because when the lostah came out, Phyllis looked at it in wonder of how to even eat it. We were laughing. The waitress had to come over and help her out. For dessert Craig and I shared blueberry pie-which is also a big thing here in Maine. So it was the perfect Maine Experience. We drove home listening to Monday night football (Lions vs Bears)....we don't need to talk about the game though :(
Since we had been on the go and driving so much we spent the next 2 days in town talking, going for walks, taking Jaycee and Izzy to the park, and mostly just enjoying each others' time. We made some yummy dinners for them and watched a couple movies and mostly had fun seeing Jaycee with her gramma and grampa. She sure loves them and talking to them.
The time had come to say good-bye. :( We were sad the time had passed so quickly. On the way to the airport we wanted to take them back to the Portland Headlight to get some pics but the weather didn't cooperate. We got there but being the on coast it was so windy and a mixture of rain made us cold and wet. But they did get a picture. We had a bite to eat and then finished up our drive. The week just went by so fast and without them here it's been so quite. Jaycee seemed to deal with them leaving okay...I was a little nervous she'd be really sad. I'm glad that she got the one-on-one time and she got to know them better. She even told me the other day she wants to go on the airplane too and go to gramma's house. We're really hoping next year comes quick and we'll get to drive back and be closer to family so we can see them all more often. Thank you mom & dad for visiting us and hope you can make it back to visit again!
Jaycee playing at the Joseph Smith Memorial
Best Buds-They were standing on the exact spot where the Smith home used to be
Going for a walk. She loved holding their hands
The "cellar" to where the Mack home used to be
A bridge that was used to cross the river in the town
Playing in Freeport at LL Bean. She loved looking at all the fish
And she thought is was pretty funny that she could see us through the water
The Maine coast
