Just Another Awesome Weekend

I think these two should cheer up, don't you? This is Grandpa Gene and Ava.  Jeremy, Cathy, Brevin, Ava, Blake and Jasper came to visit us this weekend. They haven't been to our house since last year and if the truth be told, I was shell-shocked when I got home from work on Friday night. Not shocked that they were here, but shocked at how the noise level rises to near war-time decibels when they are all in the house together. For one moment, I thought about turning around and going back to work! But I didn't, and within hours I was right in there with them laughing and screeching and having a ball! It's always like that when they come. They are little human energy packets. And they are always stoked when we see them. We're stoked too but it just takes us a few minutes, okay, maybe an hour or two to set our peaceful, quiet lives aside and just enjoy their being-ness. They are growing up so fast that we hate to miss a moment of fun with them.
 

Brevin is 12 now and he's at the boy-man stage where he still enjoys walking to the park and climbing up on the big rock and sliding on the really cool wire pulley thingy at Howard Amon Park, but I suspect in another year or two he won't be caught dead on it. **sniff sniff**  His voice is changing and he's so tall and handsome. We're sure to lose him to some cute chica and we'll be old news. The younger ones still love sitting with Grandpa.

Jasper came to visit this weekend, taking a break from his freshman year at college.  He is Jeremy's oldest son who was adopted at birth and raised in Washington and Canada. Jeremy & Cathy met him over a year ago but this was the first time we got to meet him. He's an awesome human being and we hope he'll consider us extended family and know he's always welcomed at our place. Being adopted myself, and having found my birth family, I can say with first-hand experience that you can never have too many people to love you and care about you and vice versa. Welcome Jasper!!!

Saturday morning we got up, ate a big breakfast and then walked to the park. Walked home, bbq'd hamburgers and shuffled everyone into cars and headed to the roller rink. Everyone skated except Grandpa. I fell and did some damage to my left hand and thought I had broken my wrist but it seems to be getting better. Sad to say, that was my last roller skating for the rest of my life. I can't afford to hurt my money-makers. I did have a lot of fun though and it brought back floods of memories of taking Justin and his cousins roller skating in Fairbanks, Alaska in the cold winter months when there wasn't much else to do. Anyway, after skating, we tried to get them to carve pumpkins but they just weren't all the interested in that activity so we made fried chicken and Cathy put candles on the last half of Jasper's belated 18th birthday cake (the first half was consumed on Friday night!) and then played a great game of Taboo. Blake did really well and he can be on my team any day of the week! After that, Cathy popped in a movie and by 10:00 p.m. everyone was bushwacked. We packed a lot of fun into Saturday but hopefully some great memories were made for these kids. I know I'll remember it, at least all week, while my busted up wrist is healing.  Awesome weekend!

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