A Crazy Busy Wonderful Whirlwind Visit

My small house was crammed full of relatives, filled with the aroma of good food, and full to the brim with “good visitin.”

My mom and dad came up last Saturday for a four-day visit. After going to my sister-in-law’s college graduation, I came home to some delicious tomato soup with my parents (and grandma, great uncle, and uncle.) My mom made the best tomato soup I’ve ever tasted which we wolfed down greedily with some of my mom’s cornbread.

Sunday (after visiting with some good friends at our “old church”) we celebrated Christmas with all of my mom’s side of the family. Everybody was crammed in my living room and we played “Chinese Christmas” with gift cards – which ended up being a really easy way to do a gift exchange – and fun, too! Everybody through a wrapped gift card into the pot and I ended up with a gift card to Barnes & Noble and my hubby got a 25$ Visa cash card. Even my brother and his wife in Washington tuned in via webcam. Gotta love technology! We ate lasagna and sat around and visited. The weather was beautiful and the kids got to play outside with my uncle and great uncle – which they LOVED every minute of. (The kids and I think the uncles, too.) 😉

The nice weather didn’t last long but the nice visit with my parents did.

Sunday it got so warm in my house with the beautiful weather, the extra people and all the cooking that I almost turned on the air conditioner. We settled for opening the windows instead. But I tell you that come sunset it started cooling off – quick. By the time I was putting kids in bed I was closing windows. By the time they were asleep it was literally freezing outside.

Fortunately, Big Daddy took the opportunity during Sunday’s warm spell to repair a piece of ductwork under the house so it didn’t get nearly as cold as it did during last week’s cold front. We bundled up a little and turned on a space heater and kept the coffee flowing. We got to spend time together, chat, work on some odd projects, and cap the day off with some hot baked potato soup.

This morning I made French toast for them and squeezed in a few more hours of time together before they got on the road just before lunch time. I really don’t mind having my parents here, I always enjoy their visit and it’s always a little sad when they go.

it’s not all about the gifts, really. Really.

Oh. My. Word. I am so blessed.

And it’s not just because my parents brought me stuff and fixed things for me. Really. It’s not. But those things are blessings, too!

• Saturday, my husband and my Uncle Leon fixed my car – which I haven’t been able to use since Halloween.
• Sunday, in addition to my hubs fixing the ductwork under our bathroom, my dad and uncle John took out my old dishwasher and put in the free one I got from Freecycle – which works so well!
• My dad repaired around the window in my dining room so I can paint in there.
• My uncle Leon brought my grandma’s old tv from her house – in addition to the antenna and digital converter box that went with it. My dad set it all up for me, and for the first time since we moved in 3 yrs ago, we have local channels – and we’re not paying for them via Dish Network. The kids are already watching cartoons. 😉
• My parents bought a PUR water filter for my kitchen faucet and my dad installed it so that we don’t have to drink our water straight out of the well with all the sulfur and who knows what else.

My mom also brought my Christmas present – which was new kitchen towels and washcloths to go with the new window valances she bought. With my mom’s inspiration, I’m redoing my kitchen to actually have a, ya know, THEME of some kind.

The theme?.. COFFEE!! =)

And I didn’t even take any pictures!

It just dawned on me that I didn’t pull my camera out once. Shame on me! I was either too busy running around doing stuff, or trying to sit down and visit. Well, I have the memories, right? But I’ll have to be better about snapping at least a few shots the next time!

But it WAS a good visit. And I’m already looking forward to the next one. 🙂

Amber