A Wonderful, Whirlwind Visit

We were pretty happy to hear that Noah could rearrange his mid-term test taking to a more remote location . . . namely, HOME! The boys helped me spruce up the classroom (well, they did the heavy furniture moving so that I could detach the stairs and make some space in the room--which really isn't a classroom much anymore--more office/guest room. Once I got the garage reconfigured and cleaned, Buck helped me get the stairs moved out there. This is a long parenthetical aside :) 

By leaving after Tuesday morning class, this meant a whole extra day at home with us. I guess the professors and students--who have only seen Dapper Noah show up for school--were surprised to see Going for a Jog/12-hour road trip Noah on campus that morning :) Caelan picked him up on the way out of town and the collegiate couple headed toward the sunset. We were all so excited we could hardly wait!

The next morning Caelan started an apartment's worth of laundry--which I invited her to do :) We stocked up on laundry soap and dryer sheets and found all the stray dryer balls just for the occasion! Let's see, that was a Wednesday, so Buck and both boys left for work early. Noah focused in on his schoolwork, Caelan continued to knit and knit and knit, and quiz Noah for his midterm while she knit. He did well and earned a sticker! (for all grades 95% and above . . . Caelan says he gets a lot of stickers). 😊

Gabby rushed in to give her sister a hug when her own workday was through. We decided to do a bit of shopping--Caelan needed more yarn, and the girls wanted to bake goodies for the guys' Bible study the next night, so we needed some ingredients. Missions accomplished, we headed back to the house.

I'm currently staying up late waiting for the boys to get home/come inside (Graysen and his buddy are doing something with G$'s car), so I'm not remembering specific daily details very well. I do know that I had saved up a whole list of topics to talk to Caelan about, updates I wanted to hear, and questions I wanted to ask--but somehow, I didn't remember any of them until after she and Noah headed home. I do remember that the next day, Caelan popped in Gone with the Wind while she folded laundry (and knitted). I pretty much did nothing but sit there and watch it with her. I'm not used to that kind of downtime! There was a squirrel outside the window who seemed to be strategizing access to the new birdfeeder . . . or maybe was just a Scarlett O'Hara fan; he seemed to peeking in the window to watch with us :)

G$ and Noah went kicking. Gabby called and talked to Caelan for about an hour while Caelan used Daisy as a desk for looking at the Amazon toy catalogue that they inexplicably send me every year. Gabby came over after work and the girls drove a knitting order to one of Caelan's bridesmaids. Meanwhile, the boys went to "not Bible study" because some of the guys couldn't make it (our NGFs are touring Washington for a couple weeks), but they did take the girls' monster bars to keep up their calories while shooting pool :) When the girls returned, they took turns giving each other haircuts--both turned out nicely!

On Friday, Buck had the day off. Gabby planned to stop by with coffees for everyone from a new coffee kiosk (?) that opened on our side of town. I had errands to run at a few stores, and Caelan needed to mail a knitting order to a state closer to ours than hers (hoping for a shipping discount). Buck grilled a pink fish that tasted like the salmon Caelan requested, but he called it a different name. Gabby went to grab some groceries and then head home to get her house ready for all of us to come down for dinner. 

Caelan and I went on the hunt for cute fall plants and some sealant spray to put together a surprise return of the wedding bicycle to Chase and Gabby. It proved a challenge and some backtracking occurred, but we found some cute things (I forgot to take a picture of the finished product--it was VERY windy windy at the farm). Caelan and I agreed that Christmastown in the hardware store made us happy! Gabby is likely happy that she didn't have to build it this year :) I wonder if they let people bring a chair and read a book in the middle of all the lights. Ahhhh. I love Christmas lights.

Back at the house, Noah tended Caelan's artisan bread and Buck kept an eye on the dual boiling chickens. Gabby declared it a cozy soup dinner night and Caelan and I each planned one to bring. I made dumplings and she made a tortilla soup with the broth and meat from the second chicken. I actually used what was left to make a third soup tonight with quinoa and veggies. Gabby made one of her mother-in-law's recipes--kielbasa, potato--very tasty! Noah asked for the recipe :)

Brennen was running late . . . as he apparently is again tonight (I'm soooo tired), so we left for the farm without him. We got to play with the newlyweds' volunteer kitten, Texas/Tex/Teks--he's an adorable little Tuxedo kitten that showed up in the barn. Chase and Gabby rescued him from the outdoor world and tamed him enough to be friendly around people. He's crazy cute!

And they've made a HUGE amount of progress in their renovations! It is cool to see their vision for the spaces coming together. We loved the lights they strung from the ceiling like they did at the apartment. They also put down and stained all those pretty floors we're standing on. And installed the carpet, and the brickwork, and the plumbing, and the trim, and the electrical, and the . . . EVERYTHING!

When Brennen arrived, we had just a few minutes left of daylight. The plan was to take family photos for my Christmas card and Gabby's wall. Finding a spot without wind was left to the property expert--Chase. Buck loaded a camera app on his watch and was able to set the phone against one of the grain bins, kind of pinched in a metal table leg. It took a few tries to get the technique down right, which led to some entertaining photos :) I put us in the Bluey house for fun . . . the girls and I watched the mini episodes and the trend showed up on Caelan's pumpkin while we all hummed the song on the back deck. But that's a story for the next day . . .

We planned to go out for a meal to celebrate the double October birthdays and Caelan's graduation. But as the time to choose a location neared and the requested number of grilled meals became challenging to fit into the schedule, we decided to celebrate at home. Buck was declared the celebration dinner chef! Caelan made some popcorn balls, I made an apple crisp, we warmed up some cider. Gabby came over . . . and we waited for the boys (who were at the farm from a sleepover following the soup dinner). And we waited. And waited. 

It turns out .... uggggggggggh .... Brennen's two-week-old, still-unregistered car started knocking. The oil that was in it when he bought it is no longer in it and did not appear with a telltale puddle at any time. A warning light or two came on a little too late. So, Buck charged away in his Charger to get them back to the farm to pick up a dually and a trailer. They Macgyvered the car onto the trailer with ratchet straps and brute strength. It has been sitting forlorn at the farm ever since. Graysen asked at work about it, and the guys said they won't even look at it if it's seized . . . which means Brennen may need a completely new engine which will rival the original price tag of the vehicle + will take him several months to save up for again. It just stinks :( Praying somehow God heals the car? Or maybe it won't be as bad as they think it is? Graysen planned to look last night, but after he got the oil changed in Buck's truck and  made some straight pipe (with sound dampening button) modifications to his own ride (while hanging out with a possum??!), he didn't circle back to B's car. To be continued . . .

Buck brought home four giant pumpkins and each couple or individual picked their gourd--actually, it's a fruit in horticultural terms. Only in culinary terms is it a vegetable. We learned something new, did you just, too? :) We also discovered Chase is a champion-level pumpkin guts scraper-outer! That thing was as clean as a whistle! Unfortunately, the dogs love pumpkin and got into the bowl of seeds before I could rescue them for baking. I was, meanwhile, melting caramel sheets over apples in the oven. I was five apples short, but still have the coordinating wraps in the fridge for a bonus round :) They were pretty easy and the five who got to sample said they were delicious. We did our best to pack in as many "fall" things as we could :)

So Brennen's pumpkin is a skibidi something from Roblox (???) and it is "mewing" (mewling?) I told the kids words are my thing. I know all the words. I do not know these words or what they mean. It's like bonus English. Lol! So, his pumpkin is making a "cute guy smirk that accentuates the jawline and cheekbones while also raising an eyebrow and squinting a little" face--maybe this is how people flirt nowadays? You can see Brennen demonstrated this face in real life in the photo below . . . I have to keep my eye on him and Graysen because they like to surprise me with all kinds of faces and poses when I look back at the pictures later. There were some doozies, as usual :)

Gabby spent the most time on her pumpkin and wow! Look at that kitten shine!

Graysen wins for scariest pumpkin 😂

Caelan went the Bluey route--so cute! I've got the theme song in my head right now . . .

After carving pumpkins we all ended up downstairs to watch On Patrol Live. Caelan and I made some sleepy girl mocktails . . . which is just tart cherry juice and Fresca. The Trader Joe's guys are all geeked out about the helps for aches, pains, arthritis, gout, and of course better regulated sleep. Last night, Caelan showed me that she'd picked up some tart cherry juice at home, so we could still have our sleepy-tails at the same time :)

Caelan threw in a last load of laundry and started packing up for their early morning drive. They made it safely home on the evening of Chase and Gabby's first wedding anniversary. What a year it's been for our newlyweds! I suppose I'll have to call them something else now, our yearly-weds maybe? :) Caelan said she thinks about how much Grandpa Barry would have enjoyed theological conversations with Noah. And Gabby said she thinks about how Grandpa Barry and Chase would have gotten along so well with their adventurous, hands-on project personalities. How special that they are both right!! Dad would be so proud of his new grandsons. Pretty awesome 💜

I'm thankful for a week full of family and for the kids spending time together building relationships as grown-ups and making memories while recounting some of their favorites. More time like this, yes, please! 💕

G$ Days

The time arrived for senior pictures, wow! Amazingly, my NGF got them back to me before I had a chance to write this post . . . now I can order graduation invitations, wallet-sized pictures, his photo books, his posters . . . gah! I need to get ordering things!! We are thankful for M's willingness to do the photo shoot at the farm, and happy that Chase and Gabby were home to give G$ a place to change outfits. Spax was thrilled that we stopped by for a visit, but somehow managed to stay out of the senior pics--he just yelled about it a lot :)

Just a handful of days later, we celebrated Graysen's 17th birthday! Buck pulled some strings to get the day off work and took G$ to a shooting range for a couple of hours. They brought along a few of their own guns and borrowed one of Graysen's choosing from the gallery. Sounds like they had a great time--and somehow knew which paper target (in the stack they brought home) belonged to which person shooting which gun!

For his birthday dinner, Graysen requested wings a la BBQ Chef Buck. Chase and Gabby joined the dinnertime fun, and Brennen rolled in after a looooooooong day landscaping. Dinner was delish!

Graysen opened gifts, including a cleverly folded "20 Gs" by Gabby and Chase :) He hasn't yet unfolded the literal G $'s to spend . . . I, for one, am very impressed with the creativity and effort! Caelan and Noah sent LEGO Ferrari funds, and we provided some (actual) car parts and Hey Dude's for the birthday guy.

Graysen's request for cake was banana bars with cream cheese frosting, yum! We sang him the song, we enjoyed the treats, and then he and Brennen headed off on a birthday LEGO shopping spree . . . with a stop at the sporting goods store to spend some additional birthday money on an airsoft pistol. It was sweet of Brennen to not go to the college group that night, so he could spent the evening with his brother :)

Slightly out of timestamp order, K loaded up the futon in G$'s room with a bunch of his favorite snacks and then built LEGO with the boys for a couple of hours. That weekend she and B went camping with her church group and then to fall retreat for the college group they both attend regularly. I think Brennen heard more "spend time with Me" from God during those events than he did "spend time building another relationship," and he chose to listen.

But that's off the topic of Graysen's birthday--I'm feeling reflective I guess, given all the time I'm spending going through photos and thinking through days that seem to fly by. We are just one year away from having four adult children . . . that doesn't seem possible, and yet seems right on time. It's hard adjusting to a new way of thinking about how our family interacts and what the parenting role does or doesn't look like anymore. And then there's school. All I can say is, Praise God we finished Chemistry, and it was with more laughs than tears! 

Current family line-up: 22, 21, 20, 19, 18, 17 (for a few weeks). Praying them through the ages and stages. Happy birthday, Graysen--we love you! 

Projects and More

I finished up this little quilt just in time to visit a very expectant mama who felt very ready to meet her third baby girl. Just a week or so later, she did! I'm thankful I got to spend an afternoon with her and the other little ones, trying to fill the time and keep her mind off her uncomfortableness. Now, I need to find a time to meet the new little bundle of sweetness!

Well, I didn't get a product knit in time to put it on Caelan's first craft fair, but I did make a hat! I'm looking back at G$'s graduation pictures and realizing I made hats for pretty much everyone exactly a decade ago . . . 10 Christmases past! How has that much time gone by? And NO WONDER I don't remember what I'm doing with knitting needles, lol!

One fun weekend activity was attending the baby shower for Gabby's nephew-to-be. His first-time mama taught piano to 3/4ths of our Crew and accompanied Caelan during her vocal classes in college--which BTW--she finished in September! Her diploma arrived via email (the hard copy to follow) and she's got a Bachelor of Science, debt free! She and Noah drove (through the remnants of Hurricane Helene) to Smoky Mountain National Park to celebrate! Noah is planning a multi-day hike next summer and they wanted to check it out. Much of the park was closed, but Caelan said what was open was wonderful. They saw bear cubs in a tree! They also visited Gatlinburg and Noah's sister at college. Pretty nice way to celebrate a big achievement!

Back to the party . . . finding fabric featuring cute bugs was a challenge. Most bug fabric is cheesy or creepy, but this was THE CUTEST lil bug fabric I ever did see :) Finding coordinating fabrics proved a bit tricky, but Buck helped me pick out a polka dot that features all the bug colors. I think it turned out pretty cute! The ladies passed it around at the shower, and one of the grandmas' (or maybe aunties?) gave it a hug as it went by. That was sweet :)

It was such a nice baby shower, fun to hang out with Gabby and my NGFs girls. There are so many cute baby things and smart baby things that have been designed in the past 17 years--I definitely took some mental notes for future babies :)

Buck's latest project also has to do with babies. The company wanted a more welcoming nursing moms' space, so Buck and I picked out a paint color, and then he pinked the walls, arranged the furniture, and put some art on the wall. It turned out really cute! He said there are ladies saying they thought they were done having kids, but that room looks so nice that they may just have some more. Lol!

How's this for a project? Our every-couple-of-years quest to find a different space to live. Whew!! That's a project and a half and another half! But I did like this house a lot. It had a great lower level that would be perfect for short or long term guests, a nice circular main floor with a main floor bedroom, and a couple extra bedrooms upstairs. The yard wasn't super great and it is in town on hills still with no chickens allowed . . . so not the one for us, but I'm glad we got a chance to tour it and get some ideas for the future. Now, we have a couple years to downsize our collection of stuff so that moving to a new home wouldn't be an absolute monstrosity of an undertaking. Turns out our next door neighbors also looked at a property and also asked a realtor for an assessment of their potential sale price. There may just be a domino affect around the old cul-de-sac!

I'm jumping around a bit upon review of my saved bloggable photos . . . in exciting news, we got to see the Northern Lights! Barely discernable to plain sight, I didn't hope for much when I took the photos (after researching the process after missing the last round), but WOW! Buck came out on the back deck and saw the faint beams on the horizon, too. He was impressed with what the camera could "see" better than us :) I definitely need a trip to Norway or Iceland or wherever it is you can watch the Lights dance without the assist of night vision. That would be an amazing aspect of Creation to see!

Other weekend events included . . . watching my nephew's impromptu flag football season's last game, seeing K's family from AZ, and cheering while baby H stormed the field after the last play. Clearly she wants to join the league :)

Directly after the football, Buck and I joined quite a bit of the flag-cheering crowd at church for a fundraiser. K was serving pancakes, and Buck had the day off because we hoped to take the boys to a college football game, but couldn't get tickets. We put in a couple of bids on the silent auction (this time fighting Lyme disease) and won a jerky basket as our prize! My bro donated one of his giant paintings from the storage locker he bought a few years ago. Mr. M was keen on a signed Chiefs football (until my bro realized they were printed signatures, not fresh ink). I chased baby H around for a bit while her dad chatted and her mom served. Pastor N came over to sit with Buck because he was feeling bored waiting for the auction to end and thought he'd pass the time catching up with Buck. Mr. D's treatment is like $8k per week, not covered by insurance, and that doesn't cover living expenses far from home . . . hopefully the fundraiser provided enough to give them (husband and wife) a boost to stay as long as they can to complete the regimen. 

After the benefit, we decided to make the drive to wander through a museum that's been closed for a couple of years for renovations. We were very impressed with the addition (although it's not as pretty as it used to be from the outside), but we did not care much for the art they chose to fill the new wing with (give me a talent-filled portrait over toddler-could-have-done that modern art piece ANY day!) I accidentally saved some stickers over one of the original pictures we took, but decided it improved the experience, so thought I'd share. Lol! (The first two pictures are button sculptures, btw--this is probably why Hobby Lobby didn't have any left for the shirt I was making Graysen . . .)

Looking back at my calendar, there are a few other big happenings. I attended a mission trip meeting at church to figure out what next year's plans look like. I'm trying to talk my librarian friend into going to Africa, so we can put books on the shelves together when they build the new library. That would be so much fun! No actual plans to go, just wanted to be in the loop :)

Brennen and his friend K decided to stay just such. G$ helped out at an exclusive showroom for a recent fundraiser at K's invitation. He was amazed by the host's private collection. I appreciate how K liked to get to know each person in our Crew while she and Brennen were deciding what God did or didn't have in store for them as a duet. She and Gabby still connect, so that's sweet. Teen relationships are challenging to navigate, we think Brennen did an honorable job caring for this one.

Choir continues to music along--I'm afraid I've put very little time into practicing this round. Where does the time go?? I think our concert is next week. My oh my!