Let me play catch up before I get into the trip. I have been busy after our two week hiatus from the world. Recovery has been slow and laborious. I spent the better part of last week monitoring the testing for the 5th graders at SIL's school. She is a Counselor, and the State of Oklahoma has to have two adults in the room during testing. Probably a Federal Law of some kind, trying not to leave children behind. I got to read, so I was working more on that 888 challenge. I got the same teacher as last year, so at least we were comfortable. The kids were a different story. This is Zipper swinging on Sunday.
On April 15, Zipper and Ferret came to OU Children's Hospital, to have Zipper's tonsils taken out. She was tired and cranky when I saw them (April 15). They were headed home the next day (April 16). Zipper is such a trooper. She has decided sometimes to tell us that she is in a "bad mood" and we are not to talk to/touch her. At least she wasn't just screaming, like the very unhappy babies we could hear down the hall. This is Speedy G swinging on Sunday.
This weekend, DH and I went to Wichita to see Zipper's family. We went up there to see the movie "Expelled" with a group of like-minded people. I also got to meet Lil Major and his daddy, on a short Sunday afternoon visit with Sally. How many ways can we say it? He is just cute! I guess there are times when it is bad to be a comfortable pillow of a baby-whisperer. He slept the whole time we were there. DH held him, and so did I. Thank you, Sally, for letting down the guard for us. This is me with Sally and Lil Major on our Sunday visit.
Now, we get back to the reasons we took the vacation. With Dad's permission, I sold the minivan he had loaned to me. It was an extra he had already replaced, and he would have sold it once we got back home, anyway. My friend Roadrunner's brother-in-law needed a box on four wheels to get him from point A to point B. I got Dad to sign and send the title to the minivan, and two weeks before our trip, the 1992 Tan Dodge Caravan with 214,000+ miles on it moved to Arkansas. This is the van.
Being without the car that was going to carry us to NM, on March 31, we flew to Mom. We left Oklahoma City in the early afternoon, and flew first to Denver, changed planes, and then to Farmington. I think my stomach stayed in the overhead bin on the first plane. DH was supposed to remind me to get it before we left. I am rather glad that I didn't have it on the second flight. That turbulence was like riding a raft in a churning sea. The pilot called it "annoying", but it came closer to "sickening". Dad and Mom came to pick us up, and then took us to dinner. We spent the rest of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday with them. I got to meet my Brother for dinner one of those nights. This is the family picture we posed for. Thank you to Bro's girlfriend Jenny for playing photographer for us. Left to right, back row: Brother, Dad, Me. Front row: Mom, DH. You couldn't tell I am her child, could you? Be honest!
Part of the fun of this trip was to introduce DH to my Dad's family. We have been married for 8 1/2 years, and he had only met my Dad and two cousins who live in the Dallas area. Dad is the 6th of 7 siblings. I am just getting started. (Poor DH probably didn't understand what a mess he married.) In Loveland, we spent two nights with Aunt Sue and Uncle Stanley. I had not yet met Uncle Stanley, because that is a recent marriage. This is a picture from their wedding (I stole copies from a disk they had).
We spent Friday visiting. We drove over to Greeley, to visit Aunt Dianne, and went to a great little Mexican restaurant near her home for lunch. I helped her with a troublesome bit of a puzzle, and DH showed her pictures on our laptop. We also saw our friend Sandra. We knew Sandra from O. C., and we got to meet her two children. We have not seen her in 8 years. She was already in Greeley for an appointment, and then came to Dianne's house to visit. Her kids are cute. Her son was pretty happy to meet us. Daughter was a little bit careful, but was happy to sit on my lap near the end of our time together. Her hubby was not able to get off work to come see us. We went to dinner together, and stood outside in the cold and visited just a little bit more. This is Sandra with DH. Kids were in the car. We didn't think to get the camera out and take a picture of Aunt Dianne. I am regretting that.
Stay tuned for the next episode of Chelf's travels!
