Mid-Week Wrap Up

I know it is Wednesday, so it is a little premature for a "week in review" but so much has happened that I need to get it all in fro the sake of my personal history.

Genius Golfer's father, who lives in Georgia, arrived in Utah on the 13th.  He came by himself, as Grandma Jo sent himto make somemeories and strengthen relationships on his own.  Grandma Jo is generally the go-between simply becasue she is the grandma and mother in law.  But Grandpa C came on his own and I think we ran him ragged while he was here.

The siblings--GG and his three sisters--set up an itinerary for where their dad was going and with which sibling each day.  Then we spent several evenings together as a family throughout the week.  The night he got here, the siblings went to dinner together.  Since it was just siblings, I went with The Girl to our ward's RS activity--it was great, but warrants another post of its own.  Come to find out the dinner with Grandpa C was apparently "all adults" so that included the spouses and several grown children.  Oh well.  It was too late fro me.  Genius Golfer went thought and had a nice evening.

Wednesday it was GG's turn to have his dad here.  I had a city meeting--also another post's worth if info--right after work, so when I got home at 8 PM GG and his dad had already visited for several hours. The kids were already off doing their own things and Grandpa C was getting ready to head back to his hotel. I visited just a bit--having come in right in the middle of everything.  But everyone was smiling when he headed to the hotel, so all was well.

It was GG's sister, Kathy's birthday on Friday and we all got together to go bowling--something their dad was quite good at, we understood, back in the day.  We had donuts after bowling, took a picture together and headed home. It was fun!  I'm not sure why we didn't do that before as a group.  GG and The Boy were in St. George that night for another tournament.  The Boy's tee time was 7:40 AM so they had to drive down  the night before.

Saturday, The Girl and  I did a bit more of her mission shopping--we are nearly done!--and then that evening, GG and The Boy were back and we met at Lori's for card games.  Also very fun!!  Our little family doesn't think to play card games together much--or games at all that aren't on the WII or XBox.  Figures.

Sunday, we had Kathy's birthday dinner at out place.  My mom and dad also were in town, staying with us prior to going to my nephew Jace's graduation on Monday, so they were here too.  They were happy to meet GG's dad.  Kathy chose corned beef and cabbage as her dinner.  I'd never had that, really, so it was a new and different experience.  Not exactly my favorite, but she liked it and so did GG and their dad.

Then Monday night we met at Brenda's place and played games together again.  I am glad that GG and his siblings and all our families have such a good time together.  There is genuine affection between all of us, and even when someone is having a hard time,t hey know they are always welcome with the family stuff.

Their dad went back home yesterday.  I'm so glad he came to visit.  This might be the last year we are all together--as Brenda and her family are moving to the Washington DC area this August for a work opportunity at the Pentagon.  Travis and Lacey  and their little family will be moving to New York City for the second half of his medical school. And who knows where the other kids are going to end up, as they are all on the cusp of adulthood.

The only time I remember Grandpa C coming to Utah was for Brenda's wedding.  Then we got to see him and Grandma Jo while we had a layover at the Atlanta airport.  We had a lovely visit with them there over dinner.  So it was nice for the kids, especially, to make some memories with their grandpa and for GG and his siblings to reconnect with their dad.

Family relationships are hard work.  But that much more rewarding when we take the time to build them and improve the bonds we have together.