Making Memories on Memorial Day

Excited were we when Buck's work schedule offered an unexpected Sunday/Monday combination of time off . . . when a co-worker switched him Tuesday for Wednesday, hello 3-day weekend (like most normal people :) It seemed the perfect opportunity to meet up with extended family and spend Memorial Day the way I used to as a little girl--with my grandma, at the cemetary where generations of family members are resting, watching the gun salute and listening to Taps. Of course this time, I had my own little girls and boys, and they were so prepared for the blanks firing off into the extraordinarily strong winds of the morning, that they sat with their hands over their ears quite nearly the entire time :)

After some treats at the church, we returned to my Aunt C's new home, which for all intensive purposes, I've dubbed "The Narnia House." Every time you opened a door, there was another door. Every cupboard hid a crawl space or cavernous storage area. Great house for hide-and-seek, great house to accidentally find yourself in a whole new world :)

For our kids it was a bit of a wonderland, there were frogs to catch in the backyard (which backs up to my grandma's backyard--so really there were TWO houses to play in), cousins around every corner, and so much good food! I helped with a sliver extraction on my little second cousin. Buck went shooting with the boys (the grown up boys plus my little brothers :) And did I mention the food? :)

We came back Monday night, chased all the way by storms. We lost a pole from our luggage carrier somewhere in the countryside, found a very cute and tasty place for dinner (hooray, we never know where to stop in this town and we ALWAYS need to!), and knocked out a week's worth of stuff on Tuesday alone. Three grocery stores, one furniture store (window shopping), one home improvement store (dreaming), Culvers for dinner, lawn mowing, fridge cleaning, bathroom scouring, the second of three full days of laundry . . . whew! I'm tired just typing it :)

We were thankful for the hospitality, the time spent with family, and the sharing of memories. Love you family!