An Extraordinary Day

The past few days have gone by quickly!  More visits with friends and family, getting prescriptions handled, Weight Watcher meeting, cleaning and organizing, and a visit to drop off some things to the local Goodwill with a trip to the local laundromat thrown in for good measure.

We’re in our final countdown mode, with departure  only about 12 – 14 hours from the time I’m starting to write this.  Now that I’m looking back, these past few weeks have flown by! As we always discover, we haven’t seen as many people, done as many things, or gone as many places as we thought we would this time.  However, we’ve had the opportunity to connect with many family members and friends, get some necessary items checked of the list, and enjoyed ourselves greatly.

But today will live on as one of those, “I remember when…” days in our lives.  For the first time in many, many years, all of our grandchildren came to visit at the same time!  For lots of reasons and circumstances, it just hasn’t worked out that everyone could get together on the same day.  But today, all four of my oldest son, Zach’s children, their mom, Allie and her husband, Lloyd,; Jim’s daughter Robin with her son Jacob; and my younger son, Josh and his friend, Melissa, all came to visit us.  It is putting it mildly to say it’s been a special day for me.

Saying “See Ya” to them all has been hard for me today!  Even though I know it won’t be long before we get together again and the time goes quickly, the kids are growing and changing so fast, even if we were here all the time it would be hard to keep up with them.

My oldest son, Zach and his former wife, Allie’s oldest daughter, Elyse (on the right below), is 15 now and has a learner’s permit to drive.  Kellie, at 12 (on the left) is the youngest girl:

Their twins, Cameron (in the red shirt) and Calib (in the white shirt) are 14 now, and were featured in one of my recent entries when they were honored in a continuation ceremony going from junior high to high school:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jacob, Robin’s son, is 12 now and was also featured recently when he graduated from 6th grade to junior high:

Jacob’s mom, Robin:

Elyse, Cameron, Calib and Kellie’s mom, Allie with her husband Lloyd:

Son Josh and his friend Melissa:

We’d planned to grill burgers, brats and hot dogs on the grill with all the traditional sides to go along.   But Mother Nature put a halt to that plan by bringing a cold front through this weekend, complete with high winds, hail and rain.  So we went with Plan B – several extra-large carry-out pizzas.  Of course, about half an hour before the kids arrived, the clouds went away, the sun came out, and the rain went away! Doesn’t it just figure.  Oh well, it was a special day no matter how the food arrived, if it even arrived, or what the weather brought.

All too soon, it was time for everyone to head off in their own directions and we hugged, with promises to stay in touch through the blog, Facebook, text messages, phones and e-mail. (Isn’t Technology wonderful!)

Our pre-travel list came out and we got busy getting things done after everyone left.  Now, about all that remains to be done are those few items that must wait until nearly time to go.  The black and gray tanks have been dumped and treated, the fresh water filled to about 40%, all the glass in our cupboards wrapped, refrigerator bars in place, sliding pocket doors secured, Pressure Pro tire monitors in place and checked, solar panels locked down,  all tire guards removed, cleaned and put away,  mirror and windshield covers removed and stowed, outside patio items put away, oil and other fluid levels in the car and motor home checked.

Tomorrow morning we’ll have coffee and then clean the pot, roll up the carpet, make sure everything is secure, roll over to the propane station and get filled there, and then head on down the road.  Our destination is Dumas, Texas, where we’ll stop for the night and get our state safety inspections done on the motor home and car.  Jim’s cousins, Weldon and Tammy, live there, so we’ll meet them for dinner.

On to new adventures in the lives of Jim & Ellie, Justravelin!