Another Farewell

These posts are always the hardest to write. I remember when Grandma J first met Mr. R through a mutual friend. Gosh, that was before Graysen was born! They visited us in our cute little town, and that began a series of fun outings across the country over the next decade +. I'll never forget when we were staying with family in Colorado and Buck took a phone call from his mom. He sounded happy, responded congratulatorily, then hung up and said, "Mom got married." Both his aunt and I (who had been curiously listening to his side of the conversation) yelled, "WHAT??!! Get her back on the phone, we need details!!" Lol :)

I've written a few things about Mr. R. I'll share a slightly edited version here . . .

Once more, I’m staring at a blank page attempting to write about someone so filled with life that it’s hard to believe his time on Earth is complete. Mr. R, as our Crew affectionately called him, passed away late last week. R’s zest for life was matched only by his kindness and generosity. I’ll never forget when his love of the Arts flowed into an impromptu offer to fund a year of art education--for all four of our kids--at a prominent local museum. His love of jazz music, fine dining, and travel took Buck's mom on wonderful adventures around the world. He joined us on a few too, from the glitzy amusement parks of southern California to the everything-on-a-stick state fair. We almost convinced him that "our" zoo is better than his beloved San Diego Zoo—almost R’s sense of humor, enthusiastic storytelling, and love for his wife put a sparkle in his eye that I’ll never forget. There’s so much more to say, but the most important is a belated thank you—for loving Buck's mom, for loving Z, and for including us as part of your family. Mr. R, we will miss you

We have so many good memories to enjoy reliving in our hearts and minds . . . I'm so thankful for that! The pictures have some story to them as well, like how R was always a good sport about standing in the front row with the shorter aunties and the kids :) I will miss his sense of humor and thoughtful wisdom. I could go on and on, but sometimes words fail me. They are never enough, but they do help a little.

I'm so thankful for the friends that have surrounded Buck's mom in her time of grief--so close to the loss of Z. They've covered her meals for weeks, hired cleaners for her house, come over for movie night slumber parties, and helped her through the painful parts of her days. Then family flew in, her brother and the same aunt I mentioned earlier, and her BFF sister from the east coast. When all we can send is love and prayers, I'm thankful she's got a team to surround her and carry her.

I'm Not Even Sure . . .

Here are some pictures of days that we must have done recently because they are in my "post" folder . . . it felt like this week (and the next) kind of did its own thing.

We attempted a coop upgrade . . . this water tank is supposed to hold enough for a flock our size for weeks! Buck built a sloped stand for it, so the birds can't poop on the top. That part works! But I discovered, the water level for the last couple of gallons sits under the spickets, which makes it kind of useless--there's also no way to tell what the water level is without opening the top, and the first fill only lasted one week. Maybe not the brilliant solution we were hoping for, but we're still working on it--we'll figure it out!

Caelan brought Herbie over to play, while she and Graysen worked on a propagation shelf unit that she asked him to build. I'm excited to see the finished product when she hangs it up in the apartment! After staining it the first time, she left it to dry, then came back after our concert to finish it up. She decided she liked the look and didn't add more stain, so we all ate dinner together, then watched the first episode of the show she and Noah discovered that Buck and I now also like. Which reminds me--oh my gosh, what an ending last night!! I need to text her . . .

I guess I got a little too wrapped up in enjoying hearing Caelan and Brennen making music together . . . this was the look I got from Olive, and suddenly realized I was an hour past her dinner time! Lol :)

After a meeting at church, at which I cried, because of all the sad things going on with people I care about, Olive and I "watched" the eclipse. She mostly looked around like, "Well, this is weird." And I didn't have the right glasses, so just kind of took a picture in the general direction of the sun. Oddly, it looks normal, except in the little reflection spot beneath it which is what the actual image should look like. I'm sure there's some technology explanation for that, but I don't know it :)

I've mostly been spring break planning and researching, moving tubs and getting clothing sorted out for packing. It feels like there's always about a million things needing my attention. Maybe I pay attention to too many things? Hmmm . . . well, I had a good interruption in my to do list, when H called to say she needed to work and hoped I could watch both girls. I, of course, said, "yes" and spent the next five hours coloring, playing dress up dolls, visiting the chickens, playing with our Winnie the Pooh blocks, more dress up dolls, swing set time, spaghetti dinner (as requested), and Bluey + popcorn when it got dark out (as requested). It seems like kind of everything is hard for their young mama right now, so I'm glad she reached out, and trusted me with her two most precious little humans!

I took a picture to see if she'd fallen asleep, but nope, just cuddled up and looking at the camera, lol! 

This is the next installment of Olive letting me know I am past time to feed her . . . "Never mind the kids, see how I'm smiling to remind you--directly in their personal space?"

Graysen was home for awhile when the little girls first arrived, then he left for guys' night at the new house. Soon, Brennen arrived home from work to get ready for prom! I asked the five-year-old if he looked nice, and she responded, "Yeah," totally disinterestedly:) Brennen accepted this modicum of praise, and then headed to the dance. He arrived home just before 3 a.m. and said he had a great time with his football friends at the dance and after prom (which was at a go-kart, laser tag place this year). Handsome guy!

Okay, I've got to get back to my list. Keep praying for these sweet little ladies!

All in a Day

Most of my posts cover weekly spans, but we had a crazy full day on Buck's most recent day off, which happened to be on a weekend, what?! Big boss walks happened on his normal weekday off, so Noah was the only one unavailable, but he got off work early, so everyone came to dinner!

It all began in the morning . . . Caelan and Gabby were busy prepping for a work event focused on building up families in our community. Caelan is filling in for the event coordinator while she's on maternity leave, so this free fun fair for families landed on her to do list. She wasn't sure if they'd have enough help, so she invited me to volunteer :) All the family resources organizations who'd signed up to be there--27 of them--showed up! Bob the Builder was in the house (okay, gym) and the police with a sweet K9, a mobile health screening unit, WIC, so many groups! I was in charge of the people counting clicker--it's becoming my new thing, lol :) I also got to know the girls' director and some of their other coworkers. Pretty great day--the community received information, food, treats, face paint, balloon sculptures, and prizes for filling out a super cute scavenger hunt Gabby created! Look at our girls making a difference in the world, love it!!

While we were at the community event, Buck was busy doing allll the lawn things--like banishing ticks and moles and voles! After the fair, Caelan and I joined him and Brennen (Graysen was doing a yard job with the company the teens started last year), and Herbie, of course. Olive needed a break from the rambunctious pup, so we four + one fur loaded into the van to check out some projects happening on the farm . . . and to see Spax!! Buck misses Spax and Spax clearly misses Buck! Herbie and Spax weren't too sure about each other, but it was a nice little reunion for the other two :)

During the month of March, we had a friendly basketball tournament bracket competition going on . . . Caelan led with 96% correct until the Final Four, I think. Gabby came in to snag the win from her, but Buck ended up the champ! The winner's prize was choosing what Buck would grill for everyone . . . well, he picked hotdogs, so we picked Gabby as the winner :) Actually, Caelan ran into Buck at work and mentioned that she'd been craving fish, and since Noah isn't a fan of fish flavor, it seemed like a timely dining option. When we learned he was able to join us after all (yay!), we added hamburgers to the menu :) I mentioned Brennen was grabbing "surf and turf" (a burger and salmon) and he was like, "Did you just make that up?!" So, everyone learned a little something new, well, Gabby already knew the phrase. Dinner was delicious!

Brennen watching Chase load the dishwasher through the window . . . a little creepy, but also really funny :) The guys ate their meal outside, but everyone came in to watch Gabby open her early birthday gift . . . a bread machine! She's already made a fluffy loaf that looked delicious in the picture she sent! I'm pretty sure I got my bread machine for my 20th birthday and my sewing machine for my 21st--those might be reversed. But the bread machine is still going! Actually, the sewing machine might still be, too . . . I think it is the one we kept for Gabby.

After dinner, Caelan took the van keys and a couple sassy backseat drivers (hee hee) and drove to get everyone ice cream! Yay for spring weather, busy days full of accomplishments, and family meals with dessert. Life is sweet 💗