December 22nd and 23rd

Today is day three of my Christmas Holiday and day two in Idaho. Every night I have tried to write a little for my blog. Unfortunately, I can’t seem to get my thoughts in order. The trip on Thursday was fine; as a matter of fact I rather enjoyed my second layover in Vegas. I got to watch a beautiful sunset. Yesterday (Friday, December 22) was filled with fun and first meetings:

I met my niece Amber for the first time. She is 8 months old and this is the first time I have had a chance to visit with her. She is adorable and so happy. I couldn’t believe how calm she was, our family is quite chaotic and to see her so calm and content made me rather hopeful for our future generations. My bother Ralph is a good daddy, I never doubted that he would be, but it is amazing to see him in action.

From there we went to see the newest nephew. As I posted a little over a week ago, Kent III (a. k. a. Triple Dee) has joined this mortal realm. Tiana and I had a chance to spend some time with the new baby and his mom Cynthia. As you can see he is also adorable, unfortunately, at a week old all he does is eat, sleep and poop. He is not all that fun yet, but I am sure he will be as he gets older.

Next was a 3 hour drive to Pocatello. Tiana, Sarah, Baby Sean Michael, and I headed north to see Grams Gifford. I must admit to being a bit distracted, I do not handle a change of plans, when my schedule is tight. But thanks to Sheila I was able to get back on track, though not quite focused. Grams is doing well, but there was only time for a short visit before I finished my final leg of the journey.

I was able to catch the Salt Lake Express from the Jackson’s Shell Station and hitch a ride to Idaho Falls. After an interesting ride where I learned that the young man in the back had recently found the delights of “more then a handful” and the woman in front of me felt the need to put her dog in my face, I met up with Sheila at the Kick’s 66 in Idaho Falls. Of course I was running a hour late, but the kids were nice enough to hold dinner for me. And what a dinner, The Professor had made a delightful meal. From the Bisque and Pastry to the Risotto and Beef the food was delicious.

I don’t know if I have time in this blog to say all that I want about the first meeting with Sheila, the Professor, and the children. I will say that I had an enjoyable time, and hope to be able to meet up with them again at some point when I am not on such a tight schedule. They and the children are quite enjoyable to be around

That brings us to today (December 23^rd). Today was a day of activity. It started with a fun drive filled with I spy and Fabulous Stories of Cinder Cheddar and Prince Gorgonzola ( or was it Mozzarella) from Camille. There was a quick goodbye to the Hadden/ Skazzekie clan before I was swept up n the whirlwind that was family pictures.

As you can see they turned out pretty good.


FYI: This is Arizona Dad’s Mother, her 3 children, 8 grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren (plus spouses) for a grand total of 19 people. We were there for almost 2 hours getting the poses and pictures set up.

Pictures were followed by a family dinner at a local restaurant. We didn’t want Grams to have to cook for all of us, so soon after surgery (Plus this way we didn’t have to do dishes, a major incentive for us!!) Dinner was a boisterous affair, full of laughter and a few tears. Dinner was followed by presents at Grams’ while Ian slept on the floor.

We rounded out the evening with pumpkin pie and a lovely game of Mexican Train. Almost every memory I have of visiting my grandmother includes playing Mexican Train. It is tradition; we cannot leave without playing this game. We surround the kitchen table and try our best to get rid of all of our dominoes. These are treasured memories. They are always happy times full of laughter and joy. As was that night.