My oldest son moved his family to New Zealand 7 years ago, taking our (at the time) Only 2 grand children. We were devastated. They can't afford to fly a family of 5 (yes, a 3rd grand child was born in New Zealand) to the states more than once every 3 years or so. We can afford maybe every other year and then that's our whole travel budget since we want to spend time with them and stay for a month or so.
I bite my tongue on the topic with them because I do not want to spend even a minute with anything negative when we do get together.
I HATE New Zealand! The negative connotation due to the situation is such that I can not enjoy the country, knowing that I'll have to say good bye without knowing when I'll ever see them again.
We SKYPE, but it's a poor substitution.
Fast forward to last July;
Son was able to come for a visit and bring the family. While here, he applied for a position at a near by university. They offered him a position, so he then looked into buying a house and what that might cost before accepting. He found a house. He took the job! He cashed in the family's tickets back to New Zealand except for his, and I got a ticket too. We flew back there, sold everything they own. (Way too expensive to ship household stuff. Besides, it's worth more in New Zealand used, than what it cost new in USA) In two weeks, we sold everything from the kitchen utensils to the family cars. This year, he was offered a Dean position at the university, his wife, who has a teaching credential, is now teaching, the kids are all doing well in school and best of all, they live within an hour's drive from us!!!
My advice is;
keep up a positive appearance. Time together is too precious to fight. Never give them the chance to use hard feelings for staying away. Love will win out.
We get to go to soccer games, swim meets, school plays, dance recitals, spend birthdays, holidays and just BBQ's together. We thought that we would never be able to just hang and relax; always in the back of our minds the day we had to leave and go back home.
I pray, as a grand parent, that all your dreams of family will come true like ours did.
P.S.
One good thing that came of their move to New Zealand is the grand kids all have Kiwi accents. Melts my heart when they ask, "Papa, will you take us for a lolly?" (lolly is a term used for any sweets)