Trip to Kansas

Jesse has limited vacation time and even more limited visitation time with Jer, but he has wonderfully taken a week with Jer to visit my family in Kansas!

We are having a wonderful time. It is hard to believe that it is so close to over already.

Last Saturday, we were up early and caught a plane to Kansas. Our first flight was delayed, but we still made our connecting flight. A couple of my siblings and my mother met us at the airport. After a couple of more stops while we were in the "big city," we headed to my home. My whole family is home this week!!

For supper, my college roommate, Christina came for a visit with her husband and 7-week old daughter. It has been almost 8 years since we've seen each other!! I was so happy to see her and her family!

About 20 minutes before they arrived, I caused a couple of folding chairs to fall on the back of my leg. Instantly you could see the bulging veins and swelling. I spent most of the evening with ice on my leg and now have a very colorful bruise the size of a plum.

I also got to see SR's engagement ring in person for the first time on Saturday. The wedding is still 17 month away, so she isn't too far into planning or worrying about it yet--she has three semesters of college to finish first.

Sunday was church with fellowship breakfast, Sunday School and worship service. It was wonderful seeing old friends and meeting the new pastor and his family. They have kids that are just slightly older than Jer. We are scheduled to have supper with them tonight. Also at morning church, Pastor asked for one of the kids to pray; Jer volunteered and was picked. He did a great job. He also got to play with some of his step-second cousins that are close to his age. He seemed to enjoy playing with all the kids.

Sunday evening, D gave the church an update on her work and the ministry of GFA. I do enjoy hearing her talk about what God is doing!

Monday - My Great Aunt Marie came home from the hospital (they'd been adjusting medications for the past week or so). Very shortly after arriving home, she fell and had to be taken to the ER for some stitches over her right eye. She's back at home and we have instructions that we need to make it out to visit her yet before we leave. We did go out and visit with my Grandma this evening. It is always so good to visit with her! It is sometimes still hard to believe that she's the only living grandparent I still have.

There was a primary election on Tuesday for several important local offices. Grandma stopped by after voting. There was a storm in the evening. We only got a bit of rain and wind, but reports as close as half-mile away include pea-sized hail and tree damage. We made a visit down to the stucco house. That's where I lived for the first seven years of my life and my cousins are now remodeling the home. Tuesday was also my parents' anniversary! Other than all being home this week, we didn't really do anything for them, but we did wish them happy anniversary.

Wednesday was the beginning of the county fair. SC took Jer up to see the animals arriving and then took him to the drug store for a slushie and picked up a Kansas post card for Jer's collection. In the evening, we all went back up to the fair to see L model her outfit in the style revue and then do the narration for several of the girls as they modeled. The clothing and demonstrations were judged last week, so they announced the results--L got a Reserve Champion and Grand Champion for her outfit (one for modeling, the other for her sewing) and a Purple (top quality) on her demonstration. We also got to see a couple of surrounding events, including the crowning of the king and queen for the fair. Then we had homemade ice cream! Yum-Yum!!

On Monday, SC had fixed up his old bike that he learned to ride on. Since then, we'd been working with Jer on riding a bike. This morning, I got some video of Jer riding with only a little help from his dad! I may have to see if I can convince my brother to bring the bike with him when he moves back out to Virginia next month.

We went back to the fair to enjoy our free lunch with our $2.00 button. During lunch, a police officer that SR knows was hanging out in the area, so she had him come over and visit with Jer. Jer was very impressed! Officer G invited him to come sit in his patrol car after lunch, which they did. While Jer was in the car, Officer G received a call! (That ended the visit.) Unfortunately, we missed getting pictures, as I didn't have my camera and D wasn't around to take pictures.

After lunch, we went to check out the results so far. SR got best in Breads and Baked Goods with her Pecan Twists. Mom and L both got blues on their entries (1st in their categories), except for some cookies of Mom's that only got a white (3rd in category). L then got a couple of food items judged in the 4-H division and got blues (better than average, but not top) on both of those items. While she was doing that, we visited the other animals and booths. Jer enjoyed the kiddie barn area. He wanted to take home a kitten (free), a dog ($50), a turtle (free), and the raccoon (not for sale). He also wanted to take home a rabbit when we visited that area of the fair.

In the evening, we walked (L rode her bike and Jer practiced riding) over to the Pastor's house to have dinner with his family. D, Jesse, and I got a sneak peak of a video the pastor put together commemorating the church's dedication--55 years ago this Sunday! That brought back memories!

Tomorrow is Friday--our last full day. We have so much we still want to do. Visit grandma. Visit Great Aunt Marie. Find a bell with a Kansas symbol. Maybe visit the thrift shop. Visit Dennis and Jeannie and Carmen. And celebrate D's birthday by having a bunch of the family over for dinner.