Saturday evening we were invited to my brother Ed and sister-in-law Barb's place for a family dinner. I had not seen their new condo overlooking the Puget Sound near the Edmonds/Kingstons ferry. I had heard a lot about it and I was not disappointed! The view is exquisite! She had invited brothers and sisters and parents for dinner. Here are some pictures of the event:
Their beautiful home!
Ed getting everyone's attention~
My parents!
Ed being the entertainment for the evening!
Me, Amy, Linda, Patty, Jan, Mark, Barb, Robert and Ed
Daytime view from their windows!
Sunday I went to Olympia to care for my parents while Rose and John were out of town on a business trip. It's always a big job and a big pleasure to be there with them. Mom pretty much knows how to care for my dad and just needs a few reminders once in awhile and of course a lot of help mobilizing him. Mom loves to talk about the past and about all her kids do for them.
Mom feeding dad his "yummy" soft foods!
We all chuckled that my mom has 13 children, 68 grandchildren, and 88 great-grandchildren, yet she has more pictures of President Bush in their room than any other person. She worked for the Republican Party in Bonney Lake for many years and headed up a lot of caucuses. So they continue send her lots of mail which often includes a picture of Bush, Bush and his wife, Bush and Cheney and Bush and John McCain - and of course each manila envelope contains a donation slip. She is proud of her service there and enjoyed it very much!
Several years ago my dad told his Bishop that he needed his own personal parking spot at the church. So one Christmas Bishop Wagner got dad this sign and hung it above Dad's carport. When they moved in with Rose and John they brought it with them and now it has a special spot right above the toilet in their master bath. I thought about taking a picture of him there, but decided he needs to be able to retain some dignity in his later years.
It was fun to be there with them. Amy came down and spent time with us. We took a trip out to Rocky Bay to see Jerry. Jerry didn't really respond verbally to us at first. When Amy asked him if she could give him a big kiss on his cheek, he opened his eyes wide and gave a half a smile. It is getting harder for him to process what we say to him and then it takes a long time for him to respond. He did say "good-bye" to us which touched our hearts. It was lots of fun chatting with Kristina and her husband, LeGrand and with Megan. What fun girls! And Amy was an angel keeping Lyla (Kristina and LeGrand's beautiful little baby girl) happy and content.
It was a fun weekend, but I was happy to come home to Mark, but sad to see that he was sick with all the crud going around.
Jenna and Ryan are just learning how to play checkers.
First on the agenda was a trip to McDonald's playland to feed them and wear them out a little!
But since they still had lots of energy we took them to Garrison Creek Park. Here Emily was too frightened to cross the swinging bridge on her own. Catie offered her a hand!
Voila! And that's what friends are for!
Ryan giving Jenna some advice on how to hit a birdie over the net! Jenna never quite got the hang of it!
Follow the leader!
I wanted to get a group picture mainly so we could gather them all together just before getting them in the car! It was a bigger job than I thought so I bribed them with jelly beans!
But, as soon as the photo was over they scattered and Mark took off after them. He grabbed Jenna and Emily first since they were the leaders of this little escapade!
