A day of family

Sunday 3-24-13

A day of family

Sunday I slept in (if you havent noticed this is becoming a regular event). Once we got moving around it was off to the grocery store to pick up a few things for the bbq (yes, I said bbq!). As we went to get out of the truck it was very cold. The temperature was around 19, but it was with a cold wind and intermittent snow. I wanted to take some pictures but I was quickly reminded why we used to wear long johns under our clothes. It reminded me of days when my hair would freeze while walking to school. I paused for a minute to read over a sign in front of hyvee. It was reserving a parking spot for expectant mothers, right next to the handicap parking spot. Where else do you see that?! Yes, I am in Iowa!

Off we went into the store to pick up some ribs, a pork tenderloin and some spring salad to go with our potato salad. Spring salad is a creamy salad with sea shell noodles, white onions, cucumbers (I think), and green bell pepers. Its a midwest thing that I've never seen anywhere else and have forgotten about until today but I was excited to see it again.

Back to the house to get ready to visit with David's family. Sean (David's son) has been over already a few times and I've really enjoyed visiting with him so far. Allie (David's daughter) has been sick this week, so today is the first day I will get to see her. And I get to meet David's girlfriend Tracey, who I am excited to meet. Sounds like a good day to me. :)

David started working on the smoker; just a mental note: it takes awhile for a smoker to get to cookimg temperature when its below freezing outside. We watched some Nascar racing and relaxed some more. I looked over my daily notes I've been keeping and noticed on each day I have commented on how much slower and relaxed the pace of Iowa is. Maybe its just me... Maybe its just this trip... But right now its so wondeful to take it all in and live in this moment.

Sean and his girlfriend, Justine, showed up first; then Allie came along a little later. Its amazing how the kids have grown! I still remember them as being young children with lots laughter and curiosity. Most of my memories with them include my parents since that is where we have always met up. Here's just a few of those memories:

Sean as a child: watching him running to the garage so he could scream on Christmas morning when he opened a cool present, his toes being afraid to go in the ocean, my son david and sean wrestling (which, by the way, Sean would win every time), playing video games, playing at the park, going to universal studios and seeing spiderman, the dodger game, them getting to California from Iowa faster than we got to California from Oregon (due to a blizzard), and seeing them in Washington, DC and Sean getting a guitar.

And then there's Allie as a child: the pretty purple poodle pillow, being a "girlie" girl who loved purses and jewelry and having her hair done, watching movies, going for walks, playing in my parents back yard, chasing the dog around, riding the mummy ride with me at universal studios, the dodger game, going shopping, and of course, my mom braiding her hair.

Those are just a few memories among so many more that I have of the two of them. Memories are such a wonderful gift to have. And now we are sitting here watching tv, making new memories and each one of us are on our phones typing away to our friends and family. Its rather ironic dont you think? But I am just as guilty as anyone else and I do believe that is just a part of the times we live in, no offence taken and none given. But it did make me think of the time my family was at Disneyland and our son David spent a lot time texting to his friends back home. And this makes me laugh and think about my own children...

Memories of (my son) David and my parents: video games, reading, video games, target, video games, walks with my parents, video games, Christmas morning, video games, Disneyland and Universal Studios, the ocean, McDonald's, oh... Did I say video games?! My son was so fortunate to grow up having such a great relationship with my parents. It was one of fairytales for him .. once we had moved to Oregon we visited my parents every few months so he was blessed with being spoiled (as was I!). There are so many more memories but there's not enough room in my blog to share them all. My most recent memory of my son David and my dad was at my son's graduation... Oh how proud that made me!!

Memories with Tony and my parents: Tony was only 2 when my mom died but she lived to see him born and to be able to hold him took all of her strength to get better. She loved babies and holding tony always made her smile. Tony doesnt remember her much but he knows how much we love her... And he does have memories with my dad. Tony loved flying to DC and the plane bouncing like Tigger (from Winnie the Pooh). Tony enjoyed meeting Farima all the kids, and more recently going on the Hellgate boat trip with grandpa. He asks about them often and he is one of my encouraging factors of wanting to blog with my dad and his family. We all live much further apart now and if blogging helps continue those memories then its important to me to make the time to figure it out.

I think about the children during the week of my mom's funeral and how strong they were. All of them confused and heartbroken dealing with their emotions each in their own ways. But all of them brought the innocent laughter during such a hard time, still needing to go to the park and play, still needing the assurance that life must go on, all wanting to have an opinion in the upcoming service; all wanting their memories to be heard. They brought us much joy during such a hard week in our lives; what a blessing! And they are a daily reminders that life does go on. I really do understand how and why my dad has chosen to marry someone with 5 kids. We joke that my mom would be rolling her eyes at the thought, but kids give you so many memories and without memories our lives may be boring. Kids are not for everyone, and that's ok; but for some people, kids give us joy and laughter mixed within mass chaos and that can give us a reason to keep living.

The future for our kids is still to be written but Sean has plans of the National Guard, Allie is thinking more immediate towards getting her driver's license, David is working and saving for college and Tony is asking about 2nd grade... I have images of all the kids growing up and becoming awesome adults. I am so proud of each of them for different reasons and I am happy my memories will continue to grow. For now, I will continue to live in the moment and capture these images in my head, and type on my tablet to remember it all later.