A Knock at the Door

My niece Ashley with her baby Adelynn, visiting from Texas!

June 26, 2017

Today's start was far from exciting. I began by calling around to various appliance repair businesses, looking for someone to repair my dryer, but no one was answering their phones. By the time I'd tried every number in the yellow pages, I'd left messages on five answering machines. The first to call me back said they probably couldn't schedule me until early next week. (Visions of nasty laundromat visits in my future...) The second said they could be there in about three hours. "You're hired!" (I didn't actually say that.)

I was halfheartedly cleaning up the kitchen and still in my nightgown when the repairman showed up an hour and a half early. But I'm not complaining! It didn't take him long to replace the thermal fuse and accept my payment for $105. Then Mark called at 2:00 to be picked up from work, so I quickly brushed my teeth and got dressed (yeah, I like being retired) before pausing to use the restroom. That's when there was a knock at the door. Of course.

My niece Amber with her baby Hunter, visiting from the Valley.

I rushed to get my capris pulled up and everything tucked in while the knocking got louder and more insistent, and then I ran to open the front door. There, to my surprise, were six of my nieces. The day had just become infinitely more interesting!

All of these nieces belong to my brother Jeff and his wife Dana. I love to see these fun ladies at any time, but it was especially great today because they'd brought with them their oldest sisters, Ashley and Amber, whom I don't get to see all that often. Amber leads a busy life in the Valley of the Sun, while Ashley lives even farther away, in Texas. It was so awesome to get to spend some time with them!

More beautiful nieces: Brinley, Hayden, and Haley.

Of course, there was still the issue of picking Mark up from work to be dealt with, and I hated to tear myself away from our visit. So Amber agreed to go along with my newly-driver-permitted niece Haley to get Mark. He got a surprise when a strange car of unexpectedly young ladies stopped to pick him up!

Meanwhile, we all had a good time getting caught up over the next hour or more. Ashley invited us to come see them in Texas sometime. I've kicked the idea around a time or two in the past, but there was so little time and so many places to go. However, now that I'm retired...we just might make it work out sometime! Not in the summer, though. No, no, no.

My niece Callie with her niece Kelsie. They're besties.

And, of course, the visit was all the sweeter for all the little bodies running around. Ashley has four children now, and Amber has two. When you don't see each other very often, those little ones grow up while your back is turned! I remember visiting Amber in the hospital when her oldest, Ian, was born. Now he's seven! And my brain kept insisting that Ashley's baby Addie was actually baby Kelsie, who is now five! It seems like time flies fastest when the young ones are growing up far too fast. 

Thanks for coming by, ladies! It truly made my day to spend a little time with you all. Now I'll look forward to meeting up again at the Independence Day festivities! Love you all!

The little lady in the middle, wearing the green shirt, is Callie, the youngest of

Jeff and Dana's thirteen children. The others are Callie's nieces and nephews.

On the left, Ashley's children: Garrett, Gage, Addie, and Kelsie. On the right:

Amber's sons, Ian and Hunter. And they're my grand-nieces and -nephews!

I'm adding a couple of pictures that Callie captured with my camera. A little fuzzy but definitely cute. I know Callie would want me to share.

Adelynn smiles for us, with her mom, Ashley.

Hunter looks happy with his Aunty Brinley.