Fun with Mom and Dad T - #WYFF

Merry Christmas Adam (day before Christmas Eve).  Last year we had a cool tea party. 

This year we spent the day working on various projects and playing Nintendo.

This evening we took pizza to Mom  and Dad T's. We discovered several of us prefer Dominoes to Papa Murphy's....and one or two prefer Papa Murphy's to Dominoes.

Next on the agenda was to  find Christmas lights to view.  The guys put an extra seat in the van and we all headed out. I should have taken photos at dinner or got everyone out of the van to take a shot in front of lights, but I didn't.

Not sure what the dino has to do with Christmas

We stopped at Applebees on the way home to enjoy a bit of dessert - and spend last year's Christmas gift cards. ::snort::

Fun memories.

Fun with Mom G

Our plan is to visit Mom G a couple of days a week and take her out at least one evening a week. This gives her a "lark" and gives Rebecca a bit of solitude.  Unfortunately, this past week has been CRAZY busy.....but we asked and it worked well for us to kidnap Mom this afternoon and evening.

We've been trying to think of a home she could get into - stairs are difficult.....Michael and Jamin came up with the solution. They simply took a kitchen chair out, she transferred from her walker to it, and they carried her up the stairs into the house. Problem solved.

Jamin and Mom had a good time catching up on his studies at A & M, his time in Germany and his future plans.  Jamin had planned to do a bit of digging into family history when in Germany, but discovered our last name is as common in Germany as Smith is here. 😏

Mom G and Jamin 

Michael spent part of the afternoon explaining the finer points of Farkle to Mom. As I cooked dinner, I knew what the evening's entertainment would be.

Dinner's menu was suggested by Jamin - BBQ meatballs, rice and salad. I meant to pull out some buckeyes but forgot!

Sure enough, we DID play Farkle after dinner. It's an easy game for a multitude of ages to enjoy together.

Some are rather dramatic players! 

 Mom said it was time to go home. We had thought to watch a Christian comedian, but figured she knew when she had had enough for the day. Michael and I drove her back home and sat a spell with Rebecca. Rebecca had used the time to relax, put together a table and contemplate her commitment level to a kitty door.

See You Later - Matane

Sunday, the day after "the wedding," and it's still not time to relax! We drove across town and picked up Emily and Alicia. Emily caught a bus to Portland where she will meet up with her family who are flying in from overseas. 

Alicia, Emily, Stacia, Alex, Nolan 

 There are so many precious memories from the past weeks, but having Emily and Alicia here for Arielle's big day is right up there with the top memories. It was fun for this mom to watch the fruit of well-rooted friendships - though Arielle  moved every 2 - 4 years of her life. We've always focused on our roots being in relationships - with others and Jesus - rather than location specific. It was fun to have the principle illustrated. I loved seeing the shadows of 15 and 16 yo girls in the adult women these gals have become.

We said goodbye to Emily and went back to Springfield in time to say goodbye to Josiah and JaRissa.  JaRissa had a 9 p.m. flight from SEA TAC....Josiah hoped to get them early enough that they could catch an earlier flight. They WERE able to fly out earlier and Larissa even ran into an old friend in the Seattle airport.

We are down to two "guests" left...Jamin and Alicia. We enjoyed lunch and then spent a few hours at Mom and Dad's playing games. We said our goodbyes to Alicia - Krista will take her to the airport in the morning and we will pick up Jamin and move from our RV park to Krista's driveway.

The week is winding down.....or gearing up for a new week.

And After the Wedding

If one has a wedding at 2:00 p.m. and is racing for the getaway car at 3:25 p.m., there is much left of the day after the wedding. We were out of the church by about 4:45 p.m.

We had a load of things to deliver to CoRielle's apartment.....we met at a new to us pizza joint called Mod Pizza.   We have made individual pizzas, everyone top their own and grill them for years. This is basically the same - Subway with pizza, baked in a brick oven. It's great.

Our crowd 

L - R Jamin, Emily, Alician, Alex, Krista, Bre, Izaak, Bella,  Michael,
Nolan, Stacia, Cy, Larissa, Jared

 Michael caught photos of quite a few of us...

Izaak 

Krista

Nolan 

Jamin 

JaRissa

Emily & Alicia

BreAnne

It had been a long day, Bella had been a trooper, but BreZaak wisely headed home after dinner. The rest of us went over to Mom and Dad's.  Last year, Mom let all of us girls pick a tea cup from her collection. Larissa has since joined our family and tonight she chose her teacup. She chose one with a water lily as it reminded her of the location of she and Jared's first date, as well as their wedding, in San Angelo. 

Mom and Larissa 

 Stacia has been begging to play mafia. We had a crowd and tonight was good night to play.

Emily accused Alicia (and Alicia was mafia), Josiah got into the accusing, Alicia got a bit animated in her defense and Cody (Cy and Jamin's dog) went crazy.

After mafia some played Farkle....

...some played Gin Rummy. 

It was a great day - a very long day - and we finally all went our separate ways.  We each have lots of new memories from the very full day. 

CoRielle's Reception

Neither Cory, nor Arielle, are from Eugene.  They married the week after finals. This means most of their friends were out of town by the time the wedding date arrived....and yet it was fine. The essential element was their covenant with God and each other....and some friends to celebrate with. Arielle's family drove in from CA and flew from AK and TX. Cory's family  drove from WA.  Dear friends came from WA, DC and CA....it was, in other words, just right.

The reception - the stress of the "big show" is over and it's time to simply relax and enjoy each other and loved ones who have gathered. This we did.

Rebecca (Michael's sister) and Michael catch up

Glad Mom G was up here to attend! 

Prof/Pastor Brooks and CoRielle 

Donna, Bre and Gpa Paul 

Pastor John and Francie

Nadine, Sherri and Will 

Table of Gherkins and friends

 Arielle and Cory with Grandma Mary 

Arielle and Lorri (my cousin) 

Bella is tuckered out

 Mom and Lorri manned the cookie tables and hot chocolate bar

Arielle and Grandma Jan

Grandpa Paul, Arielle, Grandma Jan 

 

LOVED seeing these three together again

 Which shoes did you decide on? "Um, I may have gone barefoot." 

Three generations of comfort-loving women

Gma Jan, Arielle, Me

 Ah - our newest couples! Thrilled to see how God brought Cory and Larissa to us! 

Jared, Cory, Arielle, Larissa 

I knew there would come a point when they were ready to leave. Their goal was to be done by 4 p.m. and we had promised we'd all work towards that.  I saw a few signs and asked them if they were ready to leave. They were. I talked with Sherri and Michael to determine proper etiquette.  They turned down the music, I announced CoRielle would be cutting their cake and then leaving the reception.

First, Michael needed to introduce Mr. and Mrs. S to the crowd - a point that was skipped when they leapt from the platform after the kiss. ::snort::

The Dads

 

They're off - at 3:25 p.m.!  Yep - from start to driving off less than 1 1/2 hours - we did it. A sweet, simple, elegant and non-stressful marriage celebration.  Praying God's richest blessings as this newly minted "family" begins its story! 

The rest of us stayed and visited for a bit - then we cleaned up, deposited decorations, gifts and cards at CoRielle's  apartment and marveled that we still had an evening ahead of us. 

Love these two families!