Picture Heavy Post

We left Michigan around 10:30am Friday morning & decided to go through Canada since we didn't want to deal with the road construction & closures on I-75 in Michigan. We drove non-stop to Niagara Falls until we got to the Duty Free store. From the parking lot, you could see the falls, so of course, I had to take a bunch of pictures :)
The falls always amaze me. I could literally stand there for hours, just looking at them & how beautiful they are! It's like they make you just forget about all of the troubles in the world....even if only for a minute or two!
The American Falls.
Here, you can see the rocks below the American Falls.
Me, with the falls in the background (although Jim didn't get them in the picture very good.....one of these days, I'm going to teach him how to take a picture! LOL).
Jim with the falls in the background. See, isn't this picture MUCH better? :)

When we arrived Friday evening in Pennsylvania around 7:00pm, we met my Dad at The Crippled Bear Inn for dinner. The first words out of his mouth were "Oh My God!" when he saw me! He knew that I had been working on losing weight, but he hasn't seen me since I started, so hearing those words meant so much to me! Saturday morning, we went out for breakfast with my Dad, his sister Jane (both pictured above) & my sister Donna.

After breakfast, we went out to see my Mom at the nursing home & along the way, we stopped at a flower stand to pick her up these gorgeous mums (I also got some for my Dad). They actually painted them these colors, so when the new ones bloom, they'll be white, but I thought the vibrant colors were so pretty! And they did what they were meant to do......
....they put a smile on her face :) My Mom was also very proud of me for the weight I've lost & she gave me encouragement to keep going!

On Easter Sunday, we went to my sister Barb's house for dinner. Donna (above) brought her dog Toby with her. Isn't he a cutie?

Here's the ham she made.....all 16+ pounds of it!

And here is Dad, being sneaky & snitching a piece of ham before everything else was done.

Barb & her son Kyle. I couldn't believe how tall he has gotten! Dang! He's 17 now & had one heck of a growth spurt since I saw him last!

Sunday night, we drove up to my Dads so I could see him one last time before we left to head back home. He's also lost some weight.....about 34 pounds & he looks great!

Monday morning, before hitting the road, I went to see my Mom again. She wasn't dressed yet & didn't want her picture taken in her gown, but I love this picture of us together! Right after Jim took this picture, I started crying. My Mom asked me why I was crying & I said because I miss you & hate seeing you in here! She assured me that she's okay & that they're taking good care of her. But still.....it's so hard! This is not the way she's supposed to live!

I've been home less than 24 hours & I miss my family already! It was so hard to leave this time, for some reason. I always wonder what if? What if this is the last time I see my Mom or my Dad? But I have to stay positive:

We saw this on the back of this van shortly after we got on the road in Pennsylvania (click on the picture to enlarge). Is that a sign or what???

I dreaded getting on the scale this morning, but knew I had to & yep, just as I thought.....I gained 4 pounds back :( I only got to exercise once while we were there plus I ate WAY too much. But this proved to myself just how quickly you can put the weight back on if you're not careful! And those Middleswarth Bar-b-q Potato Chips didn't help, either! Ah well....I'll be busting my butt BIG TIME this week at the gym :)

Have a wonderful week,

Benita