My Memorial Day began with an early-morning
wake-up call after not getting much sleep last night thanks to too much teen
chat time after we finally got the kids into their sleeping bags and off to
sleep. I helped out with the younger
cousins; Tai Chi by the river was really amazing with all of the extra exercise
buddies; and then breakfast was a wild adventure that included taking turns
getting ready for the day and helping with the kid-control and work. Michael and I needed to be at the parade
staging area in tie to meet up with the band; so we had to leave the clean-up
work to others – and the work that went into getting everyone to spots along
the parade route too.
The weather today was just as amazing as
the rest of the weekend – hot and mostly-sunny.
That does affect the way everyone feels; so this parade and memorial
service at the cemetery wasn’t quite as solemn as it has been in previous years
where Mother Nature seemed to be mourning our lost ancestors along with
us. This parade was a bit sad for
Michael and me for a different reason – it was our last with the school
band. We’ll be in the Fourth of July
parade too; but we’re doing that with some of the teen praise team teens
instead of the band. The turn-out for
this parade was the biggest since I’ve been living here; and the service that
Pastor Lewis led was as moving and heart-warming as always. Michael and I were with the Stone family for
the cemetery walk-through and story time after the service; and his
grandparents shared their family stories with all of us for nearly an hour
before we walked back to our homes and split up to get ready for the picnic in
the park.
That next hour was all work for me; we
rounded up our food contributions and the rest of the gear we’d need for the
afternoon; and then headed to the park to catch up with the gang of kids,
parents, and grandparents that had gone on ahead without us. Michael and I worked the food tables for a
while; we helped with getting the kids fed after that; and then we were able to
play with our families and cousins for the rest of the afternoon. We rented canoes to help with a fundraiser;
played games; went for bike rides on the park trails; and went for one
cool-down swim; but it was the ‘who’ we were having that fun with that matters –
not the ‘what’ we did.
We stayed at the park for longer than
normal; which is why the rush was on when we did pack up and head home again –
and then the crazy continued as we helped all of our guests get packed and
loaded up for their trips back home again.
Michael and I helped with the work and kid control; we ran around a bit
to say goodbye to everyone we could get to in time to do that; and it was
past-seven by the time our last group of family left town from Uncle Adam and
Aunt Leanne’s house. A late dinner was
already in the works at my house by then; Michael’s parents joined us while
Rebecca was spending the night with Lucas before they’d both be back to work
again in the morning; and we had a leftovers and barbeque dinner in the back
yard that was followed by a quick clean-up before Michael went home with his
parents and Mom, Dad, and I got to work in the office.
Ethan and Ehlana were with us for a while,
but they went and had baths and went to bed early while we worked on – and had
a lot to do tonight after taking the rest of the weekend off. We used a time-phase for some of that work in
the office, but I did more of that after coming up to my room once Mom and Dad
were done their work for the night. I
had enough to do that I’ve still needed to be up late even with all of the
time-phasing, but I did get caught up; and now I’m ready to crash and get some
sleep – if not very much of it!
I won’t call this my best-ever-so-far
Memorial Day weekend, but it has been really, really great even with all of the
work; and I really loved getting to actually spend some quality time with our
families – and doing all of that with Michael.
With the countdown on to the start of our college adventure; I’ll be
glad for every one of these special times – and know how blessed I am to have
our adopted family and home!
A little more sleep now and then might be
nice, but I’m not going to complain about anything – since I’m too tired to
even do that. The nap I still have time
for is calling, and that’s all of the news from today; so, until next time...
...May the Magi Force be with you!
