Continued....

Because I have no idea how to actually edit this, I decided rather than chance losing all I had written, I would post it and continue on in another story. Maybe some day when life settles down, I can actually teach myself how to use this blog the way I think it would work....or not.

So, on with the story....read below to begin.

After dinner and clean up, the Texas kids noticed there were fireflies in the yard. We dug out some jars so they could go out and catch the creatures. Their "Meme" helped them get them caught. It was great fun watching them discover and capture and set free the "bugs."

We started assigning sleeping arrangements. Dan had to give up his room and Ryan's room was open because he was at camp. I had already given up my "cave" to Mike and Leila. Matt and Dan slept in the pop up camper that friends of ours had loaned us so that we would have plenty of sleeping space. The smaller ones were off to bed and the
rest of us sat and chatted for awhile. It was just a nice time of visiting and enjoying each others' company. Tim and Michele were staying in a motel, and Mom had her own place to go. Mom, Tim, and Michele all left and the rest of us went to bed.

In the morning, the group got up and while I made breakfast, they all went for a run/walk. Leila and I were the only ones left at the house with the small kids. Dan had to go to school so he was up and out of the house. While the run was going on, Jim and Kathy came back and got the ranger and took the kids for a ride to find the runners. The runners returned before the ranger riders so then the runners went in the car to find the riders...it was kind of a game of tag.

We were then all ready to start the preparations for the rest of the family to arrive. Kathy and Mom went shopping. Leila put her head in the microwave (it seems like every picture I have of her she is getting something in or out of the microwave). Michele and LeAnn went out to get some things. Kathy was in charge of supper. Renee had arrived, so we were all together for the first time since Tim and Michele's wedding over two years ago.

Around mid afternoon, in rolls Aunt Laura and Aunt Norma (Iowa and Idaho). They were staying in a motel and had gotten checked in early so they thought they would come and see if they could help get things ready. Mostly we all visited and had a great time reminiscing of the old days, etc. It was such precious time, even among all the chaos and busyness, the time together with my dad's sisters was just precious. All of the sudden, in walks my cousin Kevin and his wife and two kids from Minnesota. A little later, in rolls Uncle Richard and Aunt Charlotte from Missouri. Their son Geof was coming from Green Bay pulling another pop up camper that he was going to park on our yard. Kathy and LeAnn had made a Tex-Mex feast for us to enjoy. Kathy was worried that the food she had bought would not feed all the unexpected people, but like the loaves and fishes, we had plenty. Without really even knowing it was happening, we had nearly half of the people here the night before the reunion was scheduled. It was so COOL!!

I have a life long friend who I had been telling about the reunion. When she got married 27 years ago, LeAnn was her flower girl, I asked her to come and join us on Friday night so she could see LeAnn all grown up. So she and her new husband Tim (her first husband died in a car accident) came over for supper too. Angie helped us with the food by shredding the pork. She also brought over a cooler full of soda. That was such a blessing.

Because camp was nearly over and I wanted Ryan to be able to spend some time with his family before they had to leave, I drove up to Sky Lodge at 8:30pm to pick Ryan up early. Because it was the weekend of the Fourth, the traffic was horrible. It took us a bit longer to get up there than expected and Ryan was wanting to stay just a bit longer to do the after glow. So, Mike, Kathy and I went and found a friend of Mike's who was at camp. It was fun to surprise her at camp. We finally convinced Ryan to come home and left the camp around 11:00pm. By the time we arrived to the Edgerton exit, I was so totally exhausted and had been fighting a headache for hours, that I had to make Kathy drive the rest of the way home. Although I was miserable and feeling soooo nauseous, Kathy still made me laugh reminding me of another time I had been sick. Nothing like a review of illness to make a person feel better. When we got home, it was straight to bed.

Saturday morning we hit the floor running, knowing there were many more people to come. The preparation for the meal, etc. is such a blur. Once again, Leila helped a huge amount at getting things where they needed to be. Renee had prepared the brisket and Tom brought it up along with a lot of supplies for the reunion. We unloaded and got set up.

People started arriving and by noon, we were ready to eat lunch. We had family here from all over the US. Mom went to the nursing home with the help of Tom and Mike and picked up Dad and brought him to the reunion. It was touching, although Dad knew nothing of what was going on and was not able to speak, it went well having him here and once again, my dad's life just touched others. His eyes lightened up when LeAnn talked to him and introduced her children. My cousin Diane introduced her baby, Peyton to Dad, and he still loves babies. It was so touching, more than I was able to handle. I had to walk away and have a time of tears. I so miss my dad the way he was but yet, he was still a part of the family and it was so obvious how the family continues to love him despite his disease.

So, pictures, games, karaoke, food, talking, laughing, and on and on it went. The day was beautiful. I thought everyone was having a good time. People seemed relaxed and appeared to be enjoying their time together, but we had to do one more thing.... Late afternoon, I told Geof he was in charge of organizing the Siedsma Family Kickball Game. Off we went, those of us brave enough to chance life and limb in order to play a game. It was more than entertaining.

.......to be continued.