Family

 It has been a busy month. Dennis has been doing a lot of maintenance work on the church house. It is an old building with a lot of needs. He reframed the front door that was rotting away. The guys decided to get a new sign made, since the old one is falling apart. It was finished this week, and Dennis is adding some finishing touches to make it a little more weatherproof than the old one. It is really nice to live so close to the church house, so he can take care of odd jobs that need attention. 

We put off doing any work on the house until after we had our get-together this weekend. So aside from doing stuff on the church building, Dennis used the time to build a shotgun for little Gracie. He had made one for the three little grandsons a couple of years ago. Gracie decided she needed one...a pink one! Well, Dennis prefers to leave a natural finish on his wood creations, so he bought a piece of purple heart wood to use instead. It turned out really cute! He also sized it down to better fit a petite little girl. She loved it! Friday night, Dennis and Stephen took her and Shepherd to drive through the state park to look for deer. They ended up seeing a dozen (no babies...just pregnant does), and Gracie "shot" every one of them! They also found a nice tarantula to let the kids look at. They were a little uncertain about it, but it was a memorable experience!

We had another Nam sleepover a couple of weeks ago. (We are pretty much back to a once a month schedule again.) We went to Sheila and Matt's on Mother's Day and had supper with them. Then we brought Nam back with us for a couple of nights. On our drive home, we were having our normal deep conversations with Nam. (That kid is so fun to talk with!) He told us that he just didn't know what he would do without us in his life. Of course, that got me to blubbering! We enjoyed his visit, as always.

We decided to go to the Wednesday night assembly at HC that same week. It was really good to see everyone again! I had been there once, last winter, while Dennis was on one of his hunting trips; but this was his first time since COVID-19 struck. It is so nice to be able to get around and visit again!

This weekend was our family get-together...our "make-up" for Thanksgiving. Stephen's family came in Friday evening in time for supper. We all stayed up too late visiting. It was really hard getting the kiddos settled down...too much excitement! But it finally got quiet, and we all turned in to recover from the day's activities before the rest of the family came over the next morning. The boys were the first ones up, but they quietly watched a little tv until Dennis and I emerged from our beds. I started cooking our normal fare of bacon and pancakes. As soon as breakfast was over, the kiddos were ready to play! We have an assortment of wooden "weapons" that we keep here for the boys, but Dennis had only made one each of a sword and shield. Well it was soon obvious that that was not going to work! So he and the boys went out to the shop and quickly made up a couple more of each. Then it was out to the front yard to slay dragons (or whatever) and swing on the rope. They pretty much stayed out there until the rest of the family showed up, and Nam joined in with them. The boys played SO well together! They are finally to the age where they can really enjoy one another, rather than bicker. They didn't slow down all day. Gracie tried to keep up, but they weren't all that excited about having a little girl tagalong. 

Dennis grilled burgers for lunch, then we sat outside under the canopy and talked and laughed and just enjoyed one another's company for hours. (Dennis had bought the canopy for the weekend, since rains were expected off and on all day Saturday.) Mid-afternoon, I headed inside to make some homemade ice cream. I made my favorite, tootie-fruity, plus some plain vanilla. I also had chocolate syrup and sprinkles. The kids loved mixing EVERYTHING together! Gracie particularly like the sprinkles that had pink and yellow in them.

For supper, we had Mexican food. I had made some poblano and cheese tamales earlier in the week for the occasion. Then I fixed deer enchiladas, Mexican rice, salsa, queso and guacamole. I wasn't sure we'd made much of a dent in it all, with all of the eating we'd been doing all day, but everyone impressed me (except the littles...none of them were very hungry after eating burgers and chips and ice cream). After cleaning up after our meal, it was time for folks to start getting loaded up and heading for home. I hated to see them go! It had been a perfect day! As much as I enjoyed visiting with them all, I think I liked watching them interact with one another just as much. I remember the days when they were little and were constantly squabbling, and I would sit them all down and make them talk through their disputes and remind them how valuable their relationship was...and how they needed to treasure it and nurture it, since it would last a lifetime. It warms my heart to see that come to fruition. Watching and listening to their stories and laughing together, and just seeing the bond between them...as well as the one between their kiddos...was so special. I love my family time!

Now that the house is empty again, we are slowly getting things cleaned up and set back to normal. As we rest up and clean up from the weekend, I look forward to the next time we can all get together again and make more memories.