What a whirlwind!! I feel jet-lagged and I never even flew anywhere!! The girls and Jeanee arrived, exhilarated and exhausted, from 2 weeks of fun in the cold of an Alaskan summer. We did all the laundry and it was off to Portland, to see their friend from the week long Disney Cruise, that they went on before they even went to Alaska! That pretty much established the routine. Laundry, catch your breath, repack, load car and off to next place which included, beyond the Portland trek-- Eagle/Boise, Kirkland and Leavenworth. At each place there were family members, new memories made/and old ones relived, food/fun/laughter and start the cycle again!!! Including Terry and I, we numbered 20!! the most we ever had together, at any one time and place, was 14 in Eagle- followed up by 10 in Kirkland. Our only son-in-law even showed up! He had flown to Italy for his job (luxury yachts) and then flew into Seattle for business and Jeanee picked him up to be with us in Kirkland. Plus we stayed at the home of our Grandson and his family and got to see our 2 great grandchildren! All in all it was a trip not for the faint of heart but well worth all the scrambling around.
Then there were the things done each year, wedged in while the laundry was drying and before we gassed up the van and headed out again!
A trip to Tri-cities for new CTR rings. A sleepover and shopping etc. with Madeline. Several plays...Thoroughly Modern Millie (saw it twice!! Aiken Center Theater. Theater in the round is now the new favorite form of theater seating for the girls. amazing what they did with that play!!), Sound of Music (magnificent, as always. at the Leavenworth Ski Hill. saw the lead nun as always and she checked on girls and their schooling plans and grades) Hello Dolly (Boo Hiss. dreadful rendition at Warehouse Theater. I totally support community theater but really!....this was horrible. most disastrous production I've ever seen there. made all the worse because the air conditioning was out but we lasted until Intermission and made a quick exit. I've never, not even once, seen a bad play there. I'm sure the actors/actresses did as directed by director and choreographer so not blaming them. It was a shame to see it happen that way!!)
Years, and years ago in Homer , I put on a production of My Turn on Earth and I used 5 high school seniors in the parts. The 3 girls were dressed to make them look like children. I brought several boxes of costumes with me when we moved here and those 3 dresses are the only thing I ended up saving. (bit by bit I got rid of things!) Each year, since they were about 5, Madeline, Cassie and Tori don those dresses and have a tea party with a little tiny tea set. Along with lemonade this year they also dipped strawberries in chocolate. They wore the dresses, when very young, to the Melodrama and other productions that used to be an annual theater event in Toppenish. They haven't done any in a couple of years. We miss their shows.
There is such a connection of doing the same ol' things on an annual basis. Neither age nor time seems to dim the enjoyment. The memories seem to be enhanced. Cramming in as much as possible. I thought about that as I saw the girls enjoying golden raspberries, picking cherries, picking huge blueberries, requesting Poppa to make Sour Dough Waffles and on another morning asking for Yellow Porridge (corn meal mush!), and his ever famous Poor Man's Mush (aka wallpaper paste!)
The last night they were here, there was a meal, with games (5 Crowns. Hed Banz.), both before and after eating. Lots of conversation and laughing and enjoyment. One last ride on their bikes that they painted and decorated a few years ago. One last swing on the front porch and giggling when ice water was accidentally spilled on them.
In Kirkland it was the same way....eating a beautiful meal of Alaskan Halibut (which we all love!), a huge salad and then laughing and talking and sitting around their fire-pit. talking and laughing and remembering past events and making S'mores.
Anchored in the Gospel, blessed with a family that I love and friends that are so wonderful, the thing I most feel, and I felt it over and over this summer, is gratitude. I'm just so grateful to have the richness of people that I love in my life, be they family or friends. The Gospel helps me to savor mortality.
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