Taking the Scenic Route

My parents came up for a few hours. Dad and Zach headed out to look for a new computer for them, and Grandma stayed and played with the kids. It was a nice afternoon.

Every year in my memory the church I grew up in has had a Mission Supper. My parents are pretty much always heavily involved with it, and this year is no exception. The simple fact that my mom was focused on the event, led to the first time we have ever totally surprised her. I told her earlier that I doubted we would make it, because I am sneaky like that. We came at the end so that she would have more opportunity to sit down with us and we could help clean up afterward. (I have so many memories of being one of the last families to leave and helping clean up after events like that…it was part of our family culture).

Every year the Mission Supper raises donations for a specific project, usually something to physically help a group in impoverished areas. (rather than evangelical stuff) This year’s project is really awesome: Personal Energy Transportation They raised enough to send 30-something vehicles to areas of need.

Now to the fun. We actually, genuinely surprised her. A major feat because she always guesses something is up, even when she doesn’t know what. This time it never even crossed her mind. It was worth it when we saw her face.

Zane did pretty well, given the loudness and number of people. On a side note, in the background of this shot, that guy in the blue shirt is special to me. He was a good friend of my maternal grandpa, ornery as anything, and a regular at the restaurant where I had my first job. He goaded my grandpa into giving the first (and I think only) tip he ever gave a waitress to tip me after a meal. He was instrumental in encouraging a shy, very sweet guy who had a crush on my friend to actually talk to her. They are happily married with kids now. He is one of those guys that just makes everybody around him feel happy and cared about. I hadn’t seen him in probably 20 years, but it was like old times when we started teasing each other again.

After the meal, Zach and Zane went out to the farm because Zach needed to diagnose the computer issues they were having. (Computer was dead and would not be revived without stupid amounts of money…better to just get a new one). Zora stayed with me and we helped clean up. It was good to see Zora happily helping and made me feel like all the extra effort I go through to teach her how to help was worth it, despite the fact it can make life a lot more frustrating in the moment. Here she is helping “Uncle ‘teve” with the donation cans.

After the work was done, it was funny to see the kids playing the same games, with the same setting, as I did as a kid. The church basement can be opened up for events like this, but in regular use, there are series of heavy curtain walls that are pulled together to create a bunch of “rooms” for adult Sunday School discussion groups. Just like we did, the “rooms” became houses, and time was spent running around them. Zane, on the other hand, was just interested in how the curtain moved on the rails.

I could do quite the retrospective of pictures of Dad fixing our cars over the years. Considering this is the newest, nicest vehicle we have ever owned, it isn’t much of a surprise that being the daughter of a mechanic has some serious advantages.

(updated with a few photos that got left off the end)

Zane took off in excitement when he saw Uncle Steve in the distance.

Pronto Pups + walking= problematic. Good thing Grandpa brought his cart.

Waiting for the train

A Fair Tradition, riding the train. My mom did it when she was a little girl too.

We sat next to each other and got along. Never would have believed it 30 years ago. The funniest thing is that we ended up discussing engineering. lol

This was the first time I ever rode the skylift. It wasn’t around when I was a kid and usually mom is the one who rides with Zane. Zane and I are in the first one after the post (we are headed east/left to right), Zach and Zora are behind us.

Ah…aren’t they cute together?

Steve rode with Zane in the very back seat of the roller coaster (Zora and Zach were in the seat in front of them)

Zane found the horn and was beeping it in a rhythm throughout the ride.

On most Sundays my parents come into town to make a trip to Sams Club and spend some time with us. This time I grabbed the camera. The kids love to help unload the cart.

We sat around the table, laughing and telling stories for a few hours. It was magical.

And, on her last evening here, Zane snuggled up with her on the couch. Zane doesn’t do this with very many people, so it was a really special momment.

We had SO much fun. We smiled and laughed so hard our faces hurt. It was a dream come true for me.

Since my camera doesn’t do as well on indoor pictures, we went outside to get a few group shots.

#192: Happy Birthday Zach! (take two). This is the first time my whole family and Zandra got together. It was also the first time Steve and Zandra met each other. The kids seemed amazed and very excited to see everybody together, and the two Grandmas had a ball, laughing heartily and giving each other the giggles. These are the only grandchildren for both of them. They agreed that they were the best grandkids in the entire world. (they are ya know). lol. It was absolutely wonderful. A day I dreamed would happen, but didn’t ever think would actually come to pass.

There are a crazy number of photos of supper. The first one was taken by the waitress and is annoyingly blurry, but I think I got enough to make up for it.

Then, we went back to our place for birthday cake….to be continued.

#150 Snuggles with Oma

Mom and Dad came up to loan us the money for Zane’s Nintendo DS.  While the guys were out at the local Gamestop, Zora got some Oma snuggles.

While they were here, anybody who knows my dad will get a kick out of the fact that he couldn’t help but try and fix the backhoe toy (one of the hydraulic lifts isn’t working right).  He runs the real thing for the township.

#148 Grandma & Zach conspire.  Without telling me, Zach and my Mom conspired to give us a date night to go see the new Star Trek movie.  The kids had fun, and we LOVED the movie.