Family Ties

Sunday, March 18, 2018: My brother LeRoy with our dad, Myron.

I've gotten so behind on my blogging that everything has become old news! This is for the best of reasons, so I can't really complain. My overall health has finally returned to the point where I have energy to tackle items on the list of things I want to accomplish. This list is extremely long, and sometimes I start on too many projects at a time. Often something ends up getting lost in the mix...like my blog.

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, the first half of March was crazy-busy, mostly with good things--especially the time we got to spend visiting with family. It began with a trip to the Valley for my family's annual Renaissance Festival fun-day, and included an evening visit with my sister, Karla, and most of her children and grandchildren. I posted that story on March 22nd.

The family togetherness continued a week later, with the start of Spring Break, and eventually included all of my siblings except the youngest, our baby brother Darryl, who lives in Missouri. I'm grateful that I got to spend time with him a year ago, when he came to visit twice last spring.

My sister Karla and her oldest, Jeremy, with our dad, Myron.

Monday, March 12, 2018

This time, Karla actually came to the mountain to see us, along with four of her ten children: Jeremy, Elyssa, Gabrielle, and Addison. Jeremy came with his wife Cami and their five children. Elyssa came with her husband Ross and their children. Gabby and Addison are still youngsters who live at home with their mom, and Karla had to come solo since her husband, Steve, had to work.

They arrived on Monday, March 12, and made their first stop at the home of our dad and step-mom, Myron and Kathy. I arrived just ahead of them and we all enjoyed a pleasant visit. Eventually, Karla's crew headed to a large, beautiful house they were renting for their four-day stay. At the same time, I headed to Denny's to pick up Mark from work.

At the adult table: Elyssa, Jeremy, Ross, Karla, and Cami,

plus a special guest...Jeremy and Cami's younger son, Braxton.

I saw them all again a couple of hours later when I met them at Red Devil for dinner that evening. With a party of eighteen, we filled four tables and had an entire room to ourselves. We had a great time talking and laughing while enjoying Italian favorites like pizza and pastas. I had the Grilled Chicken Alfredo, which is always a good choice at Red Devil. 

Karla's youngest child, Addison, with Jeremy and Cami's

two oldest children, Analyce and Jaren.

One of the more memorable moments for me was when my niece, Addison, told me about a dream she'd had. In it, she went to school and was surprised when her teacher told the class they were going to read a new book written by Addison's aunt, Mary Butler! I love it! Definitely a motivator!

Karla's second-youngest, Gabrielle, with three of her nieces:

Makayla and Lexi (Jeremy's girls) and Melanie (Elyssa's daughter).

And the rest of the little gang in Ross and Elyssa's household.

The next day, Tuesday, Karla and crew headed up toward Sunrise Ski Resort, looking for some snow deep enough to play in, since most of the snow in our area had melted away. They found a hill with just enough snow coverage left to allow for some good times sledding. They had fun and got some good photos before returning to town. Unfortunately, they also had an injury. Elyssa badly twisted her knee when she stepped into a mud-hole, and spent the rest of their stay sitting with her knee elevated or hopping around on one foot.

Elyssa, Jeremy, and Karla prepare tacos while Mark scopes out the place.

After they returned from their snow trip, I met Karla and a few others from their group at Walmart to do some shopping for the evening meal, and then we all went back to the big house they were renting. The house was beautiful, with enough beds for eighteen people and plenty of room to spread out. We immediately set about preparing tacos for dinner. I contributed my mad vegetable-chopping skills to the task.

The kids had plenty to do in their rental house while waiting for dinner.

I'd been surprised that Mark had turned down the opportunity to join us for dinner at Red Devil on Monday night, given his great love for pizza, but he'd been exhausted after a long day on his feet at work. However, on Tuesday he was more than happy to join us for homemade tacos. We were also joined by our dad/grandpa and step-mom/step-grandma, Myron and Kathy, for the evening.

The younger kids get their dinners served up first.

As luck would have it, our brother Jeff and his wife Dana were on their way to the Valley with some of their grandchildren at almost the exact same time that Karla and company were driving up the mountain to see us on Monday, so they weren't able to join us until Wednesday night. But eventually we were able to get together with them, too.

Loading up our plates: Jeremy, Analyce, Addison, Kathy, Karla, Elyssa, Myron.

Thanks to more bad luck, my daughter Sarah was scheduled to work 1-10 pm every day during Karla's stay, and she was sad to miss out on all the family togetherness. Luckily, she was able to join us on Wednesday morning for a breakfast of scrambled eggs, pancakes, and bacon with the family. Then she had to leave for work at 12:30, which also happened to be the time Karla, Gabby, and Addison had to head home to Mesa. Although it was Spring Break, Gabby had a job scheduled that night and a Pioneer Trek to start hiking the following day, so they had to leave their mini-vacation a day earlier than the others. 

More visits: Burke, Elyssa, Ross, Makayla, Jeremy, Jeff, and Dana.

I kind of expected that I'd go home at that point and not see everyone else for the rest of their stay, but it didn't work out like that, happily. While I was driving Sarah back to her car so she could drive on to work, Karla called to remind me that I hadn't gotten a slice of cheesecake I'd been promised. She said they wanted me to come back for cheesecake and to watch Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle with them. So, of course, I returned and did just that. The cheesecake was deliciously tangy and we had a great time watching the film together on the rental's big-screen TV.

Jeremy, Jeff, Dana, Lexi, and Cami share an evening.

And then my sister-in-law Dana called to say they were back in town and wanted to come by that evening to visit. I couldn't miss that!  It's too bad that Karla was already gone, but it was still good to get as many of us together as possible. They brought along three of their thirteen children: Burke, Brinley, and Callie. We all enjoyed having another dinner together, this time taco salads from the previous taco-night's leftovers.

When I left that night, I thought once again that I was saying my final goodbyes, but fate intervened once more. Sarah called me late Thursday morning, saying she had taken her car in for some engine work and it was going to take a while. So Mark and I picked her up and suggested we go to Dairy Queen for sugar-free Dilly Bars. The night before, Jeff and Dana had suggested that Jeremy and Elyssa's families stop by Dairy Queen for lunch on their way out of town, since five of Jeff's kids work at Dairy Queen. In case anyone was actually there, I thought it would be worth stopping by.

I really didn't expect it, but Jeremy's family was there with Dana and some of her kids, filling up three tables at DQ. Mark, Sarah, and I joined in and had one last, great visit with everyone for an hour or more. Ross and Elyssa had chosen not to stop, deciding instead to drive straight home. I'm sure they were anxious to return to the comforts of home after having more than their share of injuries, including Elyssa's damaged knee and a split in daughter Melanie's scalp when she cracked her head on a wall while jumping on a bed with her cousins.

Dinner at Los Corrales: Marcus, Emma, Jeff, Dana, Lori, LeRoy, and Mark.

Friday was a quiet day, in which I could catch up on dishes and laundry and other chores I had let slide in favor of spending time with family. Then, on Saturday, the oldest of my four younger siblings came to town. This was especially great because I hadn't seen my brother LeRoy and his wife Lori since July 2011, when we were in the Valley shopping for supplies for Sarah and Chris's wedding. That means I hadn't seen my brother for almost seven years! It's crazy that life gets so hectic that we allow massive time to go between seeing each other, especially when we live in the same state, a three-hour drive away from each other. Yet somehow we never stop to think about the passing of time while it's happening. It's also unfortunate that our timing was off by just three days, causing LeRoy and Karla to barely miss seeing each other. We'll have to work harder on that in the future.

Lori and LeRoy with Kathy and Dad (Myron, age 83).

LeRoy gave me a call when he and Lori arrived at their hotel at 6:00 on Saturday evening, so I made some quick calls and reserved a couple of tables at a local Mexican restaurant, Los Corrales. Dad and Kathy had already eaten dinner, so they said they'd just stay home and wait for us to come by after we ate. Meanwhile, Jeff and Dana and two of their kids, Marcus and Emma, met us at the restaurant for our 6:45 reservation, where we had a great visit and great food. It was about 8:30 when we got over to Dad's house, but we stayed up quite late, talking and laughing and reminiscing.

The two oldest of we five siblings: LeRoy and Mary with Dad. [All of us kids:

Mary (63), LeRoy (59), Karla (almost 58), Jeff (56), and Darryl (almost 55).] 

We got together one more time on Sunday, meeting at Dad's house around 11:30. For more than three hours, until LeRoy and Lori headed back to their home in the Valley, we talked some politics and some family memories, and we talked about making sure we never again let this much time go by without getting together. I think we're all finally reaching that age where we realize how Time marches on, taking us with him. Our dad is 83 now, the youngest of his parents' eleven children. All ten of his older siblings are gone. Our mom passed away at age 64; in fact, tomorrow (April 7) will be the 16th anniversary of her death. She'd be 80 now, if she were still with us. Only one of her four older siblings remains, our Uncle Leroy in Fresno. 

The lesson is, family is precious and should never be taken for granted. We're blessed to have minimal drama in our family, but if we should ever find that family ties have been broken at some point, it's worth the effort to mend the breach. Take the time to reach out, swallow the pride, forgive the hurt, extend the apology, rebuild the relationship, and share the love. Family matters! 

Lori and LeRoy with Chris and Sarah (holding either Little Bit or Rowdy).