LIB 2016

Skipping ahead to almost the present...

This year over Memorial Day Weekend, as a family we attended Lightning In a Bottle (LIB). Every time Ben and I go to a music festival, Adelyn and Odin lament the fact that they are not old enough to come with us. And for a few months they started asking when we can go camping. LIB was a perfect solution! LIB is a music festival crossed with art crossed with workshops crossed with camping... and they have a very family friendly attitude about everything too. They even have a special camping area for families. We thought this would be a great intro to camping (free water and food trucks available). And we had a blast!

The event started on Thursday and it was about 6 hours away. We had heard from others that the family camp filled up fast. With this in mind we headed to Bakersfield, CA on Wednesday so we would be closer on Thursday. We did manage to get everything in the car, but it was a tight fit! Thursday we got to the festival around 9:30. After slowly making our way through the gates, we got in about an hour later. First complaint (there aren't many): the guy directing traffic made us go down a road that did not lead to Family Camp. We knew we were going the wrong way, but he insisted. We ended up having to turn around and get on the correct road. Finally we made it to family camp. We were surprised at how many people we already set up. We found a spot that we thought would be good at got to work. We set up our tent, shade structure, and inflatable couch and then took a break to look around and grab some lunch.

The first food truck we came to was a chicken and waffles place. They had a low table and cushions set up under a shade. We went no further. And man! Am I glad we stopped! I haven't had that many c & w's, but this was by far the best I have ever had! The chicken was fried to perfection... not too much breading, a bit of zip, and juicy and delicious. And the waffle. So. Good. It just melted in your mouth. So good. We had nice conversations with the other people eating at the table.

After getting beds and everything set in the tent, we went exploring. We quizzed Adelyn and Odin about where we were and where our camp was as we went. We came to a stage with music. We stayed on the outside and had a family dance party. When the sun set everyone cheered. The kids thought this was great. We headed back to camp shortly after this because it was getting cool fast! We got back to Family Camp and were shocked... so many other tents appeared while we were out. They were crammed in every possible space. That left finding a path to accommodate our wagon a little tricky. We got the kids all tucked inside their sleeping bags. They were asleep pretty quickly.

The next few days were a blur of activity. We would wake up and eat breakfast at camp (breakfast bars for the win!). And then set off. There was a Family Love Village with a lot of kid activities, and lots of other things to see and do. When we got too hot or hungry, we made it back to camp for a lunch of crackers, cheese, nuts and summer sausage. Then we hung around, played and talked with our neighbors, took naps or whatever else we wanted to do. We would head out for a early dinner at the food trucks. After that depending on the kids we would try to stay out late or head back to camp.

Highlights for the kids were the Ferris wheel, the Woogie stage (they liked the bright colors and name, we didn't actually spend much time there), face painting, watermelon and sleeping in sleeping bags. (Doesn't take much!).

The second complaint is a huge one - leaving. We left camp around 11:30 and made it to Bakersfield (2 hours away) at 9 pm. The logistics leaving the camp ground were terrible!

All in all we had a great time. The kids are already talking about next year.

Pictures in a different post. Stay tuned!

Lights Out!

I can't believe that I forgot to mention this in the last post... the last week of October we were without power!

It was a lovely Friday afternoon. I had just gotten home from the grocery store and the pizza store. I opened the refrigerator to put away the food and I noticed the light didn't come on. Weird. So, I checked the lights in the kitchen. Nope. Checked the circuit breakers. Those were fine. Hmmm.... Then we heard a bunch of sirens and watched as several fire trucks pulled into our building. That's not good. The alarms weren't going off on our floor, I figured that was a good thing. I ended up calling the front desk to see what was going on. They didn't know much, so I went to go visit Sonya in the office. Apparently there was an electric arc on the electric buss for that caused a fire and knocked out the power to floors 37 and above. Hm. Not good. Since it was Friday, she went ahead and booked the theater room for us. Ben was able to grill our pizza and we were able to watch Peter Pan on the big screen. The kids were impressed by that! We got a note that night that the soonest the power would be restored would be Monday.

We needed electricity just for a few things.... WiFi and the refrigerator (and an occasional charge for phones and laptops). We bought an extension cord and used the hallway power (that still worked, strangely) to power these things. And we had a fine weekend.

But then Monday happened. The office found out we were using power (and by we I mean everyone else in the building that didn't have power). They left notes saying we couldn't use hallway power and then cut the power. We scrambled and ran around town looking for a generator. We found one that was "as quiet as a conversation." Apparently that conversation is between deaf people who don't realize they are deaf because it was LOUD. We knew we couldn't run that without completely ruining the lives of those below us. So we borrowed some coolers from Bobby and called it good.

No power didn't prove to be too big of an inconvenience. Ben used his phone to hot-spot WiFi for his computer. The front desk would charge our phones. Eating out was a nice treat. We did have hot water, so we could still shower, wash dishes, etc. Laundry was becoming an issue, but my friend Rose came to the rescue and let us have a clothes washing play date. We grilled a lot. Ate meals by candlelight. In some ways, we didn't really miss it!

We got periodic updates. The unit was a custom one, so it had to be fabricated. Across country. It was hopefully going to be finished on Wednesday and over-nighted here and installed on Thursday. Fingers crossed. Well, it did get finished on time! And on Thursday power was restored. It was a huge relief on multiple fronts - mainly because Ben and I were leaving and I hated the thought of leaving Grandma, Grandpa and the kids powerless while we were gone. Phew!

Thankful Tree 2014

In November we started a new family tradition - a Thankful Tree. I bought a stand-up tree from Target and cut out paper leaves. Several times throughout the month, we would share what we were thankful for. Then we added the leaves to the trees. Here is what we were thankful for:

Odin
I'm thankful for...
God
Boo-boo
Grandma reading to me and letting me paint on her tablet.
Mac and cheese and cereal
Watching Mickey Mouse movies on mommy's phone and TV.

Adelyn
I'm thankful for...
Mac and cheese
My family
Mommy and I like your shirt
Genevieve
Muffins

Ben
I'm thankful for...
My children coming in and snuggling with me this morning.
Mommy's back rubs.
My staff hiring someone without my help.

Me
I'm thankful for...
That we can spend time with friends.
That even though we [the girls] live far apart we are still super close.
Play dates.
That daddy let me go for a run.
Adelyn puts a smile on my face.

Woof: I'm thankful for grandma coming.

Dolly: I'm thankful for mommy.

Grandma: I'm thankful for being able to spend time with my 3 special grandchildren.

Heather: Girlfriends who travel lots of miles for a last minute weekend.

Andrea: I'm thankful for Grandparents and that they make girls weekend possible.

Cassie: I'm thankful for annual girls weekend. 11 Years and 6 Years.

October Fun

Yikes! I am way behind on this. I thought about skipping October and going straight to November, but there are some things I wanted to document, so here I am. In no particular order...

Oktoberfest - One thing I like about other countries is their culture. Being in America, I feel like we have a lack of culture. A while back I decided that perhaps we can do things as a family that is a reflection of our heritage. If nothing else, it's a fun family thing to look forward to. For our Oktoberfest I wanted to have a German breakfast. For us, that means brotchen. I looked up a few recipes and was all set to make it when I thought about the logistics. Quickly I decided that I didn't want to wake up in the middle of the night to make it. Fortunately, I found a German bakery. The kids and I headed over there in the morning. We picked up the brotchen along with kinder chocolate and real German gummies. We had a yummy breakfast with brotchen, salami, and cheese. For lunch we had Nuremberg brats from Trader Joe's. They are Ben's favorite from his time in Germany. After lunch I taught the kids how to polka. We finished our fest with the Chicken Dance. We were going to make pretzels, but ran out of time. Next year!

Halloween - This year we once again headed over to the Lantz's for Halloween. We headed over there in the afternoon for some play time. Then we went to their club house for an early dinner. Dinner was good, but service was slow! After that it was time to change. Adelyn was Rapunzel again (she liked the pink and purple costume the best), Odin was Thomas the Train and Genevieve was Cinderella. We had a lot of fun. The kids got a lot of candy. We actually still have most of it left! The kids were more interested in playing with it than eating it.

Genevieve - Genevieve had her 2 month well check. She did great during the ridiculously long appointment. The appointment was at 11:30 and we got out of there after 1. We are switching doctors for sure! She weighed in at 11 pounds 4 oz and was 22 inches long.

Vegetables - The kids and I headed over to Gilcrease Orchards to pick some veggies. We ended up there the week before Halloween. It was packed! Everyone was busy getting their pumpkins. We picked beets, zucchini, sweet potatoes and a pumpkin. With two little helpers, it was a kind of pathetic haul, but it was fun. For a treat we had some of their apple donuts. Those were pretty amazing. I will definitely go back,but next time I will bring Ben and the baby carrier for G.

Getting Our Greek On

The end of September was the Greek Food Festival. We decided that sounded like fun. Parking was a little on the crazy side, but it didn't take us too long to find a spot. The kids had fallen asleep on the drive there, so I fed Genevieve in the car while we let them rest.


Our first stop was for food, of course. We had way too much... gyros, pita and hummus, Greek fries, saganaki (fried cheese), loukoumathes (deep fried dough with honey) and of course baklava.


Near the food tent they had a stage with live music and dancers. Adelyn thought it was too loud, but we enjoyed watching and listening.


After our tummies were stuffed, we walked over to the rides. Adelyn and Odin picked the kid Ferris wheel to go on, followed by a bounce house. They both had so much fun.


By then we were ready to go. Mostly because it was getting chilly and for some reason we didn't think to pack jackets. Silly us.


On our way out we bought Adelyn a scarf with coins sewed all over it (think like a belly dancer). It seemed like all the little girls were wearing them. Odin wanted one too, but the nice lady at the booth found a light-up toy for him instead. Adelyn has been having fun with the scarf. It makes a bunch of noise when she dances. :)

Gone

This past Father's Day the plan was to meet my parents, brother and Katie to go bowling followed by dinner. The kids were both so tired that we had them take a nap before the festivities. They were still sleeping when it was time for us to go. I was about to text my brother to let him know we were running late when he texted me saying that Gram wasn't doing too well. They were going to stop by the rehab center on the way to go bowling.

Doug, Jane, Leah, mom, dad and Jacob were all there. They couldn't wake her up at all. Her breathing was labored. She would take a breath and wouldn't exhale for a few moments. Then she took her last breath.

Needless to say, Father's Day wasn't what any of us were expecting. We decided to pick up dinner and eat in the privacy of my parent's house.

My last conversation with my grandma wentsomething like this:
Gram: How are your beautiful children?
Me: They're great. They must get their looks from the Obert side of the family.
Gram: [blank look]
Me: I mean Bridenbaugh (her maiden name).
Gram Yes. That's more like it.

Even with her difficulty breathing, lack of energy, etc. she still was able to show off her feisty wit. I miss her so much.

She Got Her Cookies

My grandma makes these awesome cookies. They are chocolate with a maraschino cherry in the middle and then covered in chocolate. This is the only way I like maraschino cherries. On my first mission trip she made a whole batch for me and met me at the airport with a tin filled with them. They tasted so good! Especially after 10 days of rice and beans.

On April 11 my Grandma O (Gram) fell and broke her hip. It was very strange. My uncle had just had lunch with her. She got out of the car and fell. Just like that. My uncle could tell right away that her hip was broken because of the angle. She went to the hospital and had surgery. The kids and I visited her a few days later. She was happy to see us. After a few more days at the hospital, she was transferred to a rehab place for physical therapy. Before we headed back to Vegas (April 21), I visited her there. She mentioned to me that she was in some pain, so I passed that on to my mom.

Some time passed and my mom mentioned how short of breath my grandma was. Keep in mind, she does have COPD and has been a smoker for a very long time. But at the rehab place she was on oxygen and she was still short of breath even from just talking. I thought right away that she must have pneumonia. It seemed strange to me that prior to her hip she wasn't on oxygen and smoking and didn't have this much trouble breathing. Sure enough. When my parents and aunt and uncle requested a chest x-ray it was confirmed that she had pneumonia. It seemed strange that the medical people didn't think to check that.

On Thursday, May 15 my grandma was taken back to the hospital because of low oxygen levels. Sunday May 18 I got a text from my mom that Gram had to be resuscitated. This surprised me on several levels. For one, I have known for years that Gram has a DNR in place. So why did they? (But secretly I was glad, because that did allow me to see her again). It also surprised me because it seemed out of the blue. Sure, she was on oxygen, but still? When my parents got to the hospital they found out that the resuscitation actually happened on Thursday. But no one bothered to tell her family until Sunday. Really??

Monday, May 19, my grandma was transferred back to the rehab place. We also made the decision to fly home on Tuesday. Tuesday afternoon we landed in Minneapolis. On the way home we stopped by to say hi. She seemed to recognize us (although she called Odin, David) and was happy to see us. Adelyn gave her a bunch of pictures that she colored and painted.

On Wednesday I wanted to visit her again, but our day turned into a little craziness. And she had a doctor appointment that afternoon, so our visiting times were limited. So I planned on visiting her on Thursday after bringing Ben to the airport (he had to go back). I knew that I wanted to bring her cookies, so I started making them right away. Her doctor appointment was ok. He said that her right lung wasn't working at all and her left was barely working. He agreed with the DNR as her body is just too weak to ever really recover if that happens again.

Thursday morning I get a call from my mom that Gram has been transferred to the hospital. I was so confused. After she got back to rehab on Monday my parents made sure that all the paperwork for the DNR was in her file so they wouldn't do anything for her. After some calls and some waiting, we found out that the admitting doctor in the ER was sending her back to rehab because of her DNR. My parents met her at the rehab place she was pretty tired and out of it. Ben changed his flight to 5 pm so I could head over there.

When I got to her room, she woke up right away. We talked very briefly, but it was clear that she was too tired for company. She did say, "It's been an exciting week, huh?" Understatement, but yeah. I found my parents and aunt and uncle in a conference with the Assistant Director of Nursing to find out why she was taken to the ER. I guess her oxygen level was 60 and they couldn't get it up (normal is 100, they want her at 90). She was agitated and uncomfortable, so they asked her if she wanted to go to the hospital. She said yes. That superseded the DNR, apparently. While I understand, it is frustrating because my grandma isn't of sound mind. Especially with all the recent medical drama. You can ask her the same thing within a minute and get two different responses. So, after more paperwork, the dude told us that instead of bringing her to the hospital, they could give her something like morphine, and then call us to see what we want to do.

After the meeting we went back to the room and found her sitting and eating lunch! Well, the cookies I brought her, but that counts as lunch, right? We were all a little shocked. Happy, but shocked. We were able to have a nice visit with her.

So now it's a waiting game. But I got to tell her that I loved her. And I got to give her cookies. 

And Then She Ran to Her Mother

One thing that always cracks me up is how Adelyn will narrate what she's doing in the third person. She's been doing this for a long time. I know she was doing it in December of 2012 because I was telling our friends about it when we were in Mexico for the Maverick Mayan trip.

Odin has started putting words together. He also tends to repeat things. Two of my favorites are, "Dude" (said like doo-dah) and "What the deuce?"

March 11-14
On Tuesday, Rick and Mickey came for a visit. This was the first time for them to see "our" mountain. We still had Nikki and Damien too, so it was a busy house! During the days Nikki was busy visiting family, and Damien and Ben were out skiing. That left the grandparents and the kids and me to have some fun.

On Wednesday we went to Kangaroo Zoo. The kids and I had passed it a few times so I had looked it up to see what it actually was. Looked like fun. When we got there Odin went into one of the bounce houses. Then he realized that his big sister was scared and decided he should be too. So we spent the next 20 minutes (maybe more) trying to get them to try out the different bounce houses. We even had a little girl try and show Adelyn around. FINALLY, they both decided it was a lot of fun. And it was hard to get them to leave.

On Thursday we met Ben for lunch on the mountain. Then we took the kids skiing. Make that kid. It was a nice and sunny and warm day. Adelyn just had her light jacket on. After getting her ski boots on, she started to freak that she needed her winter jacket. In the end she didn't go skiing. But little mister sure did! I steered him down the little hill a few times, then I went back to Adelyn. Ben got Odin to go down unassisted a few times. Odin had a great time. After naps we headed back up for a village tour to show R&M our home site. Rick went on a snowmobile with Joe the rest of us hopped into the new toy that's like a dune buggy on treads. I'm sure it has a name. When we got to our street, we strapped on snowshoes and walked around the property. It was so nice and clear. We had great views. I'm so excited to build!

Friday R&M left right after a quick breakfast. 

Good Grief!

Monday, February 10, was a difficult day for me. The first bit of sad news was that my grandma passed away. Hours later I found out that a great and dear friend's cancer is back and doctors aren't giving him much hope.

The Wednesday before, I had gotten a text from my mom saying that my grandma wasn't doing too well and that she was put under 24 hour hospice care. The hospice workers thought that Friday would be the day. Friday was pure torture! Every time my phone made a noise I jumped, thinking it was news of my grandma passing. But she kept hanging on. It wasn't until Monday morning that she peacefully passed away.

Of course I was sad. I cried. Part of it was that I feel like I haven't been the best granddaughter. She was basically deaf, so I couldn't call. She had dementia, so she didn't know who I was. These are the excuses that I told myself when I would feel bad about my lack of communication with her. But who doesn't like to get mail? I would occasionally send her a card. I just feel like I could have done more to help her feel loved and joy in her last years.

Her funeral was the following week in New Ulm. We all flew to MN for that. It was nice to see my cousins and their kids. It was nice to see my parents and brother. But it was also hard.

A few years back we met Jordan. He was an awesome fun guy. Less than a year later he was diagnosed with skin cancer. This was weird, because he so didn't fit the "profile." He had some chemo. He changed his eating habits (basically vegan with no salt or sugar). He retired. He took experimental drugs. And it seemed to be working! But a few weeks back, the tumors started growing again. He is eligible for another study and different drugs. But the doctors had originally told him that if it came back, this particular cancer type had a recovery/remission rate of less than 5%. Of course, we're all hoping and praying he's in the 5%. But this cancer really seems to like him. The awesome and amazing thing is that it doesn't seem to get Jordan down. He is still happy, calm, and at peace. He is handling everything with such grace. And his wife, Paola too. I would be a complete basket case.

We're back in Utah now. We're really enjoying it here. More on that later. I have a library date with the kids!

Florida Family Vacation

And I'm back. Both in the blogging sense and also in the I'm home sense.

Last week we went on a very relaxing family vacation to the Tampa area (stayed in Treasure Island). We left on Valentine's Day. To celebrate and to kick off the vacation, we went to Steak n' Shake for dinner. Mmmmm.

We stayed at Residence Inn. They ran out of the rooms we had booked, so we got upgraded. We ended up with a suite with two bedrooms and a full kitchen. So, we took advantage of that and went grocery shopping and had most of our meals in.

We spent time at the beach. Adelyn LOVES the beach and ocean. The cold water didn't seem to phase her at all. She also loves the pool. It is so much fun to see her joy and excitement when we would head out to one of those places.

We also went to the Salvador Dali Museum. I have to say, I wasn't a fan of his. But now, I have a great respect for him. His range of mastery of different genre is staggering. Very impressive.

One day it was raining, so we hit up the Florida Aquarium. Of course, Ben and I loved it. Adelyn liked it too. She was a fan of the "Penguin Promenade" that we watched - they brought out a pair of penguins for everyone to see.

That's a nutshell of our vacation. I think we should do that more often.

Adelyn's First Christmas

I loved celebrating Christmas with Adelyn this year. And from what I could tell, she loved it too!

On the 23rd, my mother-in-law came into town. She came in early so I could get any loose ends tied up without my little helper. But, I was already done with almost everything. But she still got to babysit so that Ben and I could go to the movies.

Christmas Eve day we celebrated with Ben's parents. Breakfast was coffee cake brought by Mickey. Lunch was "Those Sandwiches", veggies and dip and Jell-O Ribbon Salad. All was made ready the day before, we I just had to bake the sandwiches and set the table. Dinner was our traditional Chinese take-out.

Before dinner, we opened presents since Adelyn goes to bed usually before 7. She was much more involved in this process than I was expecting! She loved to tear the paper off the presents. It was so cute! Ben got a bit of video that I will put up on YouTube.

Christmas Day we went to my parents for brunch then to my Grandma's for dinner. It was a long day (we left home around 10:30 AM and got back around 7:30 PM). Adelyn was so excited to see Auntie Krys and Uncle Pranob (haven't seen them since August) and with everything else, that she didn't want to nap. I was sure that she was going to have a major melt-down at some point, but she didn't! As we were getting ready to leave my Grandma's she got super tired and whiny, but my cousin Leah kept her occupied until we were ready to leave. I thought she did great with all the commotion and new people.

This year, the Christmas story had a whole new meaning to me. I'm sure that Mary didn't know everything that her son would do for us, but if she had even an inkling of his sacrifice, I really don't know how she managed to hold it together. I would do anything to protect my Adelyn. I want to protect her from the evil and hurts in this world. I know that I can't and shouldn't protect her from everything and that breaks my heart. So instead, I pray that she will be strong enough to handle it and to mend quickly.

Merry Christmas!

First Stamp

This Thanksgiving, once again we hit the road. This time our destination was Costa Rica to visit Ben's brother and his family. To me it is so funny that infants need passports. But anyway, Adelyn in now the proud owner of a stamp from Costa Rica!

We had a great time while there. We were there for 10 days and honestly, the time went by super fast. Ben had to work a bunch while we were there, so I spent a good portion of my days with Sara and the kids. Simon was super interested in Adelyn. And by interested I mean that he kept poking her in her eyes. So, we had to keep those two separated. Once Adelyn can crawl and get away, I'm sure it will be an easier visit.

One day we drove to a volcano. I was so excited! And it was awesome. It was Volcano Poas. There is a great view of the current crater. It was busy cranking out clouds of sulfur. But it didn't stink as much as I thought it might. Then we hiked up to the old crater that has formed a lake. It was another awesome view. And an awesome workout to hike up to it. With a stroller.

The last part of our trip we went to Jaco so Ben could learn how to surf (his #1 priority for our trip). We rented a condo that was right on the beach. I LOVE being so close to the ocean. Watching the waves breaking is so relaxing. I could get used to that.

Two interesting things: 1. There are virtually no road names or signs in Costa Rica. You just have to know how to get there. Or know local landmarks. 2. If the Russian Mafia is after you, you can't just run to the embassy and expect them to let you in and protect you. You have to have an appointment...

In a very short nutshell, that was our trip. Ben and I are already talking about our next visit there.

Sing a Song

A few days after my post about singing to Adelyn, I started up again (I caught a cold so I didn't start right away). The first day back to singing, I was singing "Arms of Love" by Amy Grant. Apparently, Adelyn does not like that song. She stopped eating, so I looked down at her and her lower lip was out and quivering! As soon as I changed songs, she smiled and went back to eating. Silly girl. And now sometimes she will stop eating to sing along with me. So, sometimes I cut the singing time short so she will get back to eating. Her current favorite is "GLYSDI" (God Loves You, So Do I). Tonight we sang that song several times AFTER she was done eating.

Reclaiming My Voice

From the very beginning, I have sang to Adelyn while feeding her. Not at all feedings, but at least two per day. The songs would range from Broadway hits, to the Oldies, to children songs to hymns. It was a way to pass the time, but also I think another way to bond. Then one day I stopped singing. My excuse was that we were at a lake cabin with friends and I was embarrassed to be overheard. So, I picked up my phone and used that to pass the time instead. I read emails, checked in on FaceBook, played games, you name it. After leaving the lake, that habit stayed. I looked forward to doing all those things while feeding Adelyn. Then this week, I realized that I hadn't been singing to my daughter for weeks! And this made me very sad. Instead of using the feedings to bond with her, I was bonding with my phone. I decided that this has got to stop.

So, I am working on kicking the phone habit. I told Ben about my conviction so that he could help keep me accountable. I have started to leave my phone other places so I won't be tempted to use it. And I am working on remembering all the songs I used to sing to her.

I love that I'm back to singing. I think Adelyn likes it too because sometimes she hums along while she eats. These are precious moments that I am trying to not take advantage of because all too soon they will be over. I'm just thankful I realized what was happening before it was too late.

Ben's Birthday

Last Saturday was Ben's birthday. I felt really bad because I wanted to plan something special, but I wasn't even able to get to the store and get his presents. But we had a great day. I let Ben plan out the whole day. We started off with some orange rolls. Then we went on a family walk. We went to Bhan Thai for eggs rolls and fried rice for lunch. We worked on some fish tank stuff. Then we had pizza for dinner and watched a movie. It was a fun filled day. It should be his birthday more often!

We Are Family

This past weekend was the August Schell's Family Reunion in New Ulm (150 years!). We drove down to spend Saturday there. It is amazing to think how many people I'm "related" to. I think the official RSVP count was 375 people. And the seventh generation is just getting started (Baby Roy will be in that generation).

It was a perfect day for an outdoor event. The sun was out, but it wasn't that hot. We got there around noon and had a lunch of brats, German potato salad, fruit, and chips. And all the beer or root beer you wanted. (Side note - the last time we had a reunion was in 1995 and I was too young to have beer. This time I was old enough but still couldn't have any. Oh, well. 1919 root beer is so yummy!!!).

I took a tour of the family "mansion." I put mansion in quotes because it's not that large of a house. But back in the day (1885) it was pretty nice sized, I guess. The tour was pretty cool. In each of the rooms a descendant was there to talk about the room. The guy in the kitchen is the grandson of the last people that lived there. He remembers visiting Grandpa and Grandma in the house. The front parlor guy remembers being chased out of that room by the aunts and uncles because kids weren't allowed in that room. It was neat to have first hand stories of that house. They are working on restoring it. That should be pretty cool.

This family event was so different than the Storm Lake trip. I think mainly because it is so big, but also the people there are mostly so far removed I didn't know hardly anyone. My two great aunts that are still around made it. And a few of their kids I know. And that was about it. So, I just soaked up the history of the place and the chance to hang with my family. All in all, not a bad way to spend the day.

We're From Ioway

Last weekend we went to Iowa to help celebrate Ben's aunt and uncle's 50th Wedding Anniversary. About an hour away from Storm Lake we realized we left our camera at home. :(

We got to the resort and checked in and then walked down the hallway to the suite that the family was hanging out in. Elenore (the aunt of the hour) was so completely surprised that we were there (we hadn't RSVP'ed since we didn't know until last minute that we were going to go down there). It was fun to be able to surprise everyone.

We hung out in the suite until everyone started to get ready for the dinner. We went and changed too and then headed out. Dinner was fun. We sat with one of Ben's cousins and her family. It's still a little strange to me that some Ben's cousins are closer in age to his parents than to us. The result is that their children are closer to our age. But anyway.

After dinner we went back to the suite. I was feeling pretty tired, but figured I could hang out for a little bit. Boy, am I glad that I did! We had so much fun! The family was busy swapping stories and everyone was laughing so hard. I thought maybe I would laugh the baby out. Thankfully that didn't happen, but I did have sore muscles for a few days.

Sunday morning we once again went to the suite and had breakfast and said our good byes. Then Rick took us on a tour of the town to show where he grew up. Up until then I always thought he grew up on a farm. Nope! In town. Then it was on the road again.

Omaha!

Last weekend my friend Heather and I took a road trip to Omaha. My cousin Ryan was getting married and her mom had invited her to a women's conference at church. Perfect! Months ago the plan was for our husbands to join us, but that didn't work out. For us it was not knowing for sure if we would even be going, so we didn't plan ahead. When we found out about the wedding we had no idea if I could or should make the 6+ hour car ride to Omaha. In the end it worked out great! Heather and I had a great ride there and back. We stopped in Des Moines to visit her dad and sister and her family. And once in Omaha we stayed with her mom. The whole weekend was fun. So glad that I decided to go.

The only "bad" thing was that my grandma wasn't able to make the trip. I was looking forward to seeing her as her health hasn't been the best (she's 94, so I think she is allowed to have health issues). But now I don't know when we will see her. I don't think another long road trip can happen for me until after Baby Roy comes. Hopefully it will work out to get a visit in.

Easter 2010

Apparently, last Sunday was when daylight savings time was supposed to happen. My clock changed the time on me so I was up an hour earlier than planned. But I used that time to clean the kitchen so I didn't have to do it later on.

After church, Ben and I beat my parents home. We let ourselves in with our key (yes, still have a key to the parent's house). Ben decided he wanted to play with his new camera outside, so we went out in the backyard. Didn't realize that by closing the door behind us, we were locking ourselves out. So we got to be outside longer than intended waiting for my parents to come home.

Mom was getting something out of the fridge and noticed that the light didn't go on. They have been having issues, so my mom figured it had died again. Good news - it wasn't dead. Bad news - the power was out. Good news - everything had finished cooking.

Other than that, we had a great Easter. It was nice to be with the family again. Those times will be treasured more since my sister and her hubby are moving to Chicago.

DC

This past weekend we went to DC to hang out with Ben's brother. We left on Thursday (my birthday) and got back last night. John, Sara and Simon picked us up from the airport. We ended up taking a "detour" on the way to the hotel to stop at the Melting Pot for dessert. So thoughtful of Ben to think of that.

Friday we spent the day in DC. We had gotten on the list for a "tour" of the White House and of the Capitol building. Our WH tour was "scheduled" for 8:30 am. We got there around 7:45 and got the pleasure of waiting in the rain for over an hour to get in. And it turns out that it is a self-guided tour, so you were with a mass of people filing through the 6 or so open rooms. I was not impressed. The highlights were seeing secret service walk around with big guns and walking out the front door of the WH. But without anyone telling me why I should care that this room is green and that one is blue, I didn't find the tour all that useful.

The Capitol tour, on the other hand, was great! Our Congressman likes to make sure his peeps get a personal experience. So it was Ben and me and three others with one of his aides on the tour. It was great! She was funny, and knowledgeable. She shared with us the history of the building, rooms and art. We even witnessed a proposal in the old Senate room. So cool!

Saturday night we got together with our friend Chris that lives out that way. He took us to a great Thai place and to a movie (Hot Tub Time Machine). It was a wonderful way to spend the evening! We all laughed throughout the night. It was fun to be able to see Chris between cruises.

Other than that, we hung out with John, Sara and Simon. I thought Simon was super cute. And fun to be around. He's 6 weeks and doing great.