I sat on a backless barstool in the Taylor kitchen. The sunlight streaming through the blinds was blinding my right eye as I watched Todd fix his breakfast, half a lemon squeezed into warm water, grape nuts with sliced banana and an apple. He walked around the counter and sat down beside me, blocking the sunlight so I could see his face. This is the part of summer we dreaded, the separation. I took him to the airport hovering to see if the 3 bags were going to make the limit, 50 lbs. First bag, 71 lbs of Costco items. We emptied a few out onto the sidewalk, strawberry jam and maple syrup. The skycap says, never mind. You've been bumped up to first class for the first leg, 70 lbs, 3 check-in bags for free. Phew! We stuffed the items back into the suitcase. He tipped the man and was off to China. ( I hope the jam jar doesn't break over all the other contents in the suitcase.)
I dislike saying goodbye to people.
I drowned my sorrow with a cinnamon waffle with raspberries and cream. Feeling sick now. Packing and cleaning up the Taylor house for our departure tomorrow. Brooklyn and Brigham are trying to finish school in the office. Brynn is whistling around the house. Sophie is playing "the coolest game ever". Waiting for word from Chase on Missionary training center life through his eyes. I typed a list of questions and said please hit reply and fill in the blanks to make it easy for you. We will see what he sends back. Just talked with my Grama Mary, we will see her tomorrow! Shannon and I bought tickets for Maleficent and had lunch at cafe rio. We packed our party into two cars between loads of laundry and were on our way. Fourteen cousins and five adults and many snack packs filled the middle row. Back to the cul-de-sac for scooter and bike riding and pizza and breadsticks. more packing for our road trip in the morning. Thanks Cory and Shannon for hosting the madness. Chase did write today, so both my missionaries have Monday p-days.
Tuesday: we left by 7:30am, hopefully not waking too many sleeping Taylors. Went to chick fil a for breakfast and Brooklyn threw up from car sickness. Gassed up and headed out on I-80 to Colorado. The roads were not crowded and views were spectacular. As we drove through flaming gorge we happened to have "August's Rhapsody" playing. It was the perfect fit for the scenery. We stopped for tacos and drinks and gas along the way. We made it to Ft Collins and headed to Aunt Jan's where we met Grama Mary, Uncle Joe and cousins Gini and Kate, their husbands and Kate's five cute children. Jan made a salad served with bagel chips, lemonade and rhubarb cream cake with strawberry ice cream. After dinner Joe showed some slides of Kate and me as babies. Carina showed us some of her dance recital and kids played volleyball. It was a quick visit but well worthwhile. Thanks Jan!
Wednesday. Slow start. A nice drive to North Platte. I can totally feel the midwest vibe of my youth. So familiar. We stopped in Sterling and then in Ogallala for Valentino's pizza. Forty five minutes later we were at Jane and Jim's (my aunt and uncle) and Jeff and Pam's (my cousin). Maggie(cousin's daughter) was there too, a great surprise. Maggie, Jeff and Pam spent the next couple of hours taking the kids knee boarding and wake boarding on their lake. Then we were treated to watching Maggie on a trick board. She has some fancy moves-360s both ways, skiing backwards and jumping over both wakes. She also ran her slalom course. Aunt jane had dinner waiting for us when we were finished with boating. We had Uncle Jim's famous spaghetti with sausage and meatballs, salad and garlic bread.
Thursday: Back to the lake for a day of skiing, boating, gun shooting, watering the garden, motorcycle riding, swimming and lounging in the boathouse on the dock. Lola the dog is also getting lots of attention. The weather was perfect. Maggie and Jeff are excellent ski teachers and had Brooklyn, Brigham and Brynn up skiing on their first tries. Pam joined us after she got off work and is a great cheerleader.Sophie spent the day riding in the front of the boat. Jane fed us sandwiches and Nebraska relishes for lunch and ham/potatoes/green beans/salad for dinner with peach pie for dessert. Traditional midwestern meal, delicious! Jeff then took Brooklyn and Brigham driving around the lake while the rest of us had fun in Aunt Jane's craft room. She has oodles of stamps, paints, markers, glitter, ribbons, paper, water color pencils etc. I loved that the adult to kid ratio was equal and that the Tierney's took so much time to teach my kids new things as we went throughout the days. They gave them their undivided attention and the kids ate it up.
Friday: Today is cooler. We ate fresh fruit, cheese sticks, crackers and pepperoni at Jeff and Pam's house. We read through my cousin Jill's genealogy book. Jane and Jim are off to a doctor's appointment. On to Cody Go Karts, it's been there since I was child. We did the same courses I rode with my brothers, the slick track, speed track and bumper boats. Jeff then took us to his favorite slurpee shop-12 flavors to choose from, then Pioneer Park. The park had llamas, peacocks, elk, ducks, geese, deer and buffalo. It started raining and lightening as we were leaving. Pam cooked dinner and I learned how to make her bbq ribs. Brigham took one last motorcycle ride around the path Jeff mowed for him through the trees and fields next to the lake house. There was a great storm and we had the perfect spot to view the whole thing in their loft at lake house. Sheets of rain were causing white ripples on the lake. Patio furniture slid from the west side of the porch to the south porch. We ended the night chatting, crafting and playing a loud and crazy game of dominoes. So sad to say goodbye. A highlight of our summer vacation for sure. I appreciate the time they all took to teach my kids so many things these past few days! Great people and I'm glad they are family.
Saturday: Laundry day at the hotel. As I sat in the laundry room I remembered the cold day in Nauvoo, at the Main Street laundromat, mid-cross country train trip, when Chase and I did loads of laundry and played Ticket to Ride while we waited. Breakfast and then on to meet Grama Mary in Sutherland at Great Aunt Betty and Uncle Blaine's house. A quick tour of their nice home and then off to the Johnson Family Reunion in a hunting lodge by the North Platte River. Well, that location was changed as we were driving to the river. The new location was the Hershey Methodist Church. I saw lots of familiar faces and we had a nice time chatting with my mom's cousins, aunts and uncles.--Jane/Bob, Betty/ Blaine, Bonnie, Ruth and Huebners. They had a potluck that looked straight out of a "Taste of Home" magazine. A relative named Tim showed gave me information on how to get to the family farm in Sweden for when we visit in September. (Jonskoping). The girls had fun taking photos in the cornfield and playing with a brand new kitty. Brigham played basketball across the street. It was great to see family. We said goodbye inside and then to Grama Mary in the street by a cornfield (another hard goodbye) and off we went to Cheyenne, Wyoming. There it was 50 something degrees and raining. It felt so cold-we had slush on our windshield. We shopped at Frontier Mall and Target (Grama, I found the socks!) and called it a night. Meanwhile in China, Todd got to go to Hong Kong, the temple and Simply Life. He also cleaned the baptismal font with Shannon and Shane for the two baptisms in China tomorrow.
Sunday: In the car for another fun filled day of traveling and sunflower seed eating. Aunt Jane gave me a new Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD so we started the day listening to that. Rainy in patches, windy and hail in other parts. When we drove into Utah it was blue skies and sunny. I love that drive through the canyon. We all talked with Todd on the way home too. Back at Taylor's house...Boston and Brigham are packing for their week at BYU tomorrow. The girls are trying to get Koda to do some of Lola's tricks. Brooke's working on videos and Cory and Shannon are whipping up a meal. Trying to get our plans for the week in order. Congrats to Christina & Ian Ho, sad we missed your big day! Safe travels everyone!
Love from Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah (and Todd from China),
Jane and family
I dislike saying goodbye to people.
I drowned my sorrow with a cinnamon waffle with raspberries and cream. Feeling sick now. Packing and cleaning up the Taylor house for our departure tomorrow. Brooklyn and Brigham are trying to finish school in the office. Brynn is whistling around the house. Sophie is playing "the coolest game ever". Waiting for word from Chase on Missionary training center life through his eyes. I typed a list of questions and said please hit reply and fill in the blanks to make it easy for you. We will see what he sends back. Just talked with my Grama Mary, we will see her tomorrow! Shannon and I bought tickets for Maleficent and had lunch at cafe rio. We packed our party into two cars between loads of laundry and were on our way. Fourteen cousins and five adults and many snack packs filled the middle row. Back to the cul-de-sac for scooter and bike riding and pizza and breadsticks. more packing for our road trip in the morning. Thanks Cory and Shannon for hosting the madness. Chase did write today, so both my missionaries have Monday p-days.
Tuesday: we left by 7:30am, hopefully not waking too many sleeping Taylors. Went to chick fil a for breakfast and Brooklyn threw up from car sickness. Gassed up and headed out on I-80 to Colorado. The roads were not crowded and views were spectacular. As we drove through flaming gorge we happened to have "August's Rhapsody" playing. It was the perfect fit for the scenery. We stopped for tacos and drinks and gas along the way. We made it to Ft Collins and headed to Aunt Jan's where we met Grama Mary, Uncle Joe and cousins Gini and Kate, their husbands and Kate's five cute children. Jan made a salad served with bagel chips, lemonade and rhubarb cream cake with strawberry ice cream. After dinner Joe showed some slides of Kate and me as babies. Carina showed us some of her dance recital and kids played volleyball. It was a quick visit but well worthwhile. Thanks Jan!
Wednesday. Slow start. A nice drive to North Platte. I can totally feel the midwest vibe of my youth. So familiar. We stopped in Sterling and then in Ogallala for Valentino's pizza. Forty five minutes later we were at Jane and Jim's (my aunt and uncle) and Jeff and Pam's (my cousin). Maggie(cousin's daughter) was there too, a great surprise. Maggie, Jeff and Pam spent the next couple of hours taking the kids knee boarding and wake boarding on their lake. Then we were treated to watching Maggie on a trick board. She has some fancy moves-360s both ways, skiing backwards and jumping over both wakes. She also ran her slalom course. Aunt jane had dinner waiting for us when we were finished with boating. We had Uncle Jim's famous spaghetti with sausage and meatballs, salad and garlic bread.
Thursday: Back to the lake for a day of skiing, boating, gun shooting, watering the garden, motorcycle riding, swimming and lounging in the boathouse on the dock. Lola the dog is also getting lots of attention. The weather was perfect. Maggie and Jeff are excellent ski teachers and had Brooklyn, Brigham and Brynn up skiing on their first tries. Pam joined us after she got off work and is a great cheerleader.Sophie spent the day riding in the front of the boat. Jane fed us sandwiches and Nebraska relishes for lunch and ham/potatoes/green beans/salad for dinner with peach pie for dessert. Traditional midwestern meal, delicious! Jeff then took Brooklyn and Brigham driving around the lake while the rest of us had fun in Aunt Jane's craft room. She has oodles of stamps, paints, markers, glitter, ribbons, paper, water color pencils etc. I loved that the adult to kid ratio was equal and that the Tierney's took so much time to teach my kids new things as we went throughout the days. They gave them their undivided attention and the kids ate it up.
Friday: Today is cooler. We ate fresh fruit, cheese sticks, crackers and pepperoni at Jeff and Pam's house. We read through my cousin Jill's genealogy book. Jane and Jim are off to a doctor's appointment. On to Cody Go Karts, it's been there since I was child. We did the same courses I rode with my brothers, the slick track, speed track and bumper boats. Jeff then took us to his favorite slurpee shop-12 flavors to choose from, then Pioneer Park. The park had llamas, peacocks, elk, ducks, geese, deer and buffalo. It started raining and lightening as we were leaving. Pam cooked dinner and I learned how to make her bbq ribs. Brigham took one last motorcycle ride around the path Jeff mowed for him through the trees and fields next to the lake house. There was a great storm and we had the perfect spot to view the whole thing in their loft at lake house. Sheets of rain were causing white ripples on the lake. Patio furniture slid from the west side of the porch to the south porch. We ended the night chatting, crafting and playing a loud and crazy game of dominoes. So sad to say goodbye. A highlight of our summer vacation for sure. I appreciate the time they all took to teach my kids so many things these past few days! Great people and I'm glad they are family.
Saturday: Laundry day at the hotel. As I sat in the laundry room I remembered the cold day in Nauvoo, at the Main Street laundromat, mid-cross country train trip, when Chase and I did loads of laundry and played Ticket to Ride while we waited. Breakfast and then on to meet Grama Mary in Sutherland at Great Aunt Betty and Uncle Blaine's house. A quick tour of their nice home and then off to the Johnson Family Reunion in a hunting lodge by the North Platte River. Well, that location was changed as we were driving to the river. The new location was the Hershey Methodist Church. I saw lots of familiar faces and we had a nice time chatting with my mom's cousins, aunts and uncles.--Jane/Bob, Betty/ Blaine, Bonnie, Ruth and Huebners. They had a potluck that looked straight out of a "Taste of Home" magazine. A relative named Tim showed gave me information on how to get to the family farm in Sweden for when we visit in September. (Jonskoping). The girls had fun taking photos in the cornfield and playing with a brand new kitty. Brigham played basketball across the street. It was great to see family. We said goodbye inside and then to Grama Mary in the street by a cornfield (another hard goodbye) and off we went to Cheyenne, Wyoming. There it was 50 something degrees and raining. It felt so cold-we had slush on our windshield. We shopped at Frontier Mall and Target (Grama, I found the socks!) and called it a night. Meanwhile in China, Todd got to go to Hong Kong, the temple and Simply Life. He also cleaned the baptismal font with Shannon and Shane for the two baptisms in China tomorrow.
Sunday: In the car for another fun filled day of traveling and sunflower seed eating. Aunt Jane gave me a new Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD so we started the day listening to that. Rainy in patches, windy and hail in other parts. When we drove into Utah it was blue skies and sunny. I love that drive through the canyon. We all talked with Todd on the way home too. Back at Taylor's house...Boston and Brigham are packing for their week at BYU tomorrow. The girls are trying to get Koda to do some of Lola's tricks. Brooke's working on videos and Cory and Shannon are whipping up a meal. Trying to get our plans for the week in order. Congrats to Christina & Ian Ho, sad we missed your big day! Safe travels everyone!
Love from Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah (and Todd from China),
Jane and family
FAMILY: I'll post the rest of the pics on Facebook
No comments:
Post a Comment