A Mini-Reunion in June and July

We made all our flights and got to San Diego without problems, other than our luggage was large and awkward...

Mother picked us up at the airport. We drove to her home, packed what we needed for AZ leaving the rest in her basement and then drove with Joanne Robertson to Maricopa, AZ where Elizabeth, Andrew and Abby live. Joanne met up with Tamara and stayed with her and Jack. Tamara was finishing up some of her classes for her degree. Tamara was driving with Joanne back to San Diego to be with Mike for Father's Day.

There were some miscommunication about who was actually staying with Andrew and Eliz , so Mother stayed there, sleeping with Abby in her room while Kent and I stayed at a hotel. AZ is HOT! Eliz and her family are used to the heat. Our Alaskan blood wasn't. We were glad we had our hotel room where we could crank the AC up way down low... Poor Elizabeth. The air conditioning was on so low in her house (74 degrees F) that she actually got cold and had goose bumps. 74 to Kent and I is HOT! 103 is unbearable. I don't know how they do it!

Daniel and his family were able to come Friday and stayed with Elizabeth while Katie and David flew in Friday noonish and stayed at our hotel. I didn't know if they would want to share rooms but we only had reserved two rooms. They decided they'd rather sleep in the same room (two beds) and have the AC turned down low, fan up high.

And I forgot about picking up David and KT up... Mother, Eliz, and I were shopping at Wal-Mart when we got the call...did you forget us? YES! We hurriedly paid for our things (Andrew's graduation cake, t-ball equipment (including a pink bat and ball for Abby and yellow balls and a black bat for the boys) and picked them up at the airport. They were hot and hungry. So on the way back to Eliz's home we stopped for In & Out burgers for them. There's a secret menu which KT and David were well versed in.

Then Andrew's family came and later we had a nice lunch and took pictures of Andrew in his robe. He left, we cleaned up and then all FOUR of my children attended Andrew's graduation! I am sorry that Tyler and Brian weren't able to come (they had already bought tickets for a visit to CO) but I never really thought all 4 were going to be there... So now, Andrew has his Bachelor's Degree! He and Elizabeth are glad!

We were able to get nails done, get some family pictures, play games, nap and eat. (See KT's blog for pictures.) The boys actually liked playing t-ball with the pink bat and ball...it was easier to see the ball and the bat was liked by all. It was fun to see Kent teach Kyle how to choke up on the bat. Kyle had seen enough baseball that he would swing at the ball and run the bases. Grandpa had thought they would just practice swinging at the ball. No, you got to run the bases Grandpa. Abby did surprisingly well at swinging the bat and hitting the ball. As she is two years younger than Kyle I thought it might be hard for her to "get it" but get it she did. She must have some of her Mom's athleticism. We know she didn't inherit her ball throwing ability from Grandma Smith...

Kyle is social, still loves being with Grandpa. He loved playing ball with Grandpa. Aaron is listening to people and beginning to interact with people. His eyes landed on Great-Grandma Cowles and stayed a few seconds while they flitted right past me. Understandable. It is easier to understand Abby when she is in front of you. Verbal language isn't one of her strengths yet but she definitely communicates, especially if it's pink. We heard lots of "Abby's" when she wanted something or was asking if it was hers. She was easy to entertain. I have a great picture of Mother playing dominoes with Abby. Mother lined them up and Abby pushed the first one over. They did it several times till I got the "perfect" picture (which is still in my camera) of some dominoes up and some falling over. Abby is a happy girl.

All three grandkids painted their hands and left a hand print on a board for Kent for Father's Day. Kent laughingly told me that the kids had gotten into some paint not knowing that it was done on purpose. He was surprised when he saw the grandkids' hand print board and realized the paint on the hands wasn't kids getting into mischief. (A space was left for Tyler's hand print and was completed in ID). The board hangs proudly over our fireplace mantle in Anchorage.

Then Katie left on Sunday. Mother, Kent and I left early, early on Monday when it was cool. It is nice weather in AZ ... at 4 in the morning... Safe journey home. Kyle, Aaron and Christina came up for lunch. Kyle stayed with us while Christina took Aaron home for his play therapy. Kyle enjoyed playing at the Mary Ann Park in Crest. He played some soccer and hide and seek with us (Grandpa mostly). We tried a dart game (ones that land in circles on the ground) but it didn't go over well. Then back to Grandma Cowles' home. Kyle picked a grapefruit that was so sweet, even I did not need sugar on it. A family dinner with Dan's family, Robertsons and Eileen later to celebrate Kent's and my birthday. WONDERFUL Chocolate and peanut butter cakes!

Then after packing, having lunch with Mother, Daniel and his family at the Spaghetti Factory, Mother took us to the airport to go to SLC. I wonder when we'll have another reunion again.