let's start at the very beginning

This recent trip reminded me of my first visit to Ocean City, NJ in May 1994 with Zac. Ohh, this guy. What would I do without him.
Here he is this time:

And here we were then:I visited him there, his hometown where he lived from the time he was 11, before he left for his 2 yr missionary service. So this visit I felt a lot of nostalgia, mixed in with remembering having to say goodbye to him. Boy oh boy! Emotions!

And then in 1997, after I had returned from my mission, we again went to the boardwalk when I came up to see him. The very first night I saw him again (after 3 yrs of only writing letters), we rode on the big ferris wheel. I think he held my hand.

So Ocean City holds a lot of significance for me. It was his hometown. But it was the place I said goodbye to him, not knowing what the future held for us. And then hello again, and figuring out what our future was going to be. Crazy stuff!!

We hadn't been back there since his parents moved to Indiana in 2001 (?) and we moved back to Utah. It's been a long time! And we hadn't seen his sister and her family either who still live in NJ, so it was a trip long overdue.

His family had decided to arrange a sort of family reunion there with his parents and all his siblings gathering there. It took over a year in planning, reserving the condos, making the required payments in advance etc, so it was kind of a big deal. One brother and his family moved to Alaska mid-planning and decided they couldn't make it. But his other 2 brothers, their families, us, his parents and his sister and family ended up sharing the 2 condos. It was quite the adventure!

Beginning, of course, with our road trip. Are you ready for this?!? haha . . . here it comes! :)