Marg was anointed Mother-In-Law of the Year after looking after the kids for a week in a Sydney, while we had our first adult holiday in a villa in Tuscany.
Then, she brought them over for a two-week jaunt through Europe on our first multi-generational bucket list trip (yes, there is such a thing).
Hubby lifted her bags off the carousel at Rome airport and almost did his back in.
"Are you smuggling gold bricks in here?" Jase laughed, fortunately out of earshot of the carabinieri.
The comedy continued through various vignettes, including: lugging the luggage up five flights of stairs in Florence; getting an arm stuck between carriage doors in the Paris Metro.
Until New Year's Eve, when we decided to buy fresh produce from the markets for a delicious family dinner.
We spotted Marg surrounded by cookbooks. Hardcover cookbooks. Australian Women's Weekly cookbooks. All the way from Australia.
"I thought I'd cook something lovely from these," she beamed.
"Is that because there's no culinary culture in France," Jase joked. "Or no internet connection here?"
This was the first time Marg had been to the northern hemisphere and for her, it was a case of comfort: when surrounded by the unfamiliar, it's nice to have something from home.
Now, she's part of a global movement of Baby Boomers doing the things they've always wanted to do, and sharing it with their grandkids.
According to the American Association of Retired Persons, 97 per cent of over-50s surveyed are planning one big trip for 2015: 33 per cent will take their children and grandchildren.
No. 1 on the destination bucket list is Europe, followed closely by the Caribbean, Hawaii, Las Vegas, and Orlando.
Research from Trafalgar shows American holidays are favoured by grandparents, with the eight-day Rockies Thrills and Glacier Chills the most popular itinerary for intergenerational travel: booking numbers are up 58 per cent on last year.
"We've noticed an increasing demand from grandparents wanting family holidays to involve more outdoor activities and cultural experiences," says the managing director of Trafalgar Australia, Matthew Cameron-Smith.
The report also finds a surge of support for European holidays, with 50 per cent of guests on Trafalgar's Gladiators, Gondolas and Gold guided holiday aged between five and 17 years of age.
Our kids, Taj and Grace, think they have the coolest nanna ever, after watching her climb the 463 steps of the Duomo in Florence.
There's no mystery surrounding the popularity of the multi-generational bucket-list. These days, extended families are fragmented; on holidays, we can create special shared memories.
