We went to one of my favorite places in the world, my grandma's house. It is familiar and wonderful and like Going Home Plus. Many of my happiest childhood memories happened there, and with my dear grandma. My grandma loves me in a pure and uncomplicated way and I love her back. I still feel like a lucky girl when I get to be with her. She had us sit in her very formal living room that was always forbidden when we were children. (Sometimes my sisters and I could sit in there but never my brothers.) Now, my grandma was having us sit there with our gangly and clumsy sons? Then she offered them chocolates?!? I think my grandma was trying to give me a heart attack. Mark was sitting on a Queen Ann chair upholstered in a light brocade fabric. I admonished him to stick the entire chocolate in his mouth at once. He could hardly chew it his mouth was so full, but I was not going to be the mother of the boy who had sullied The Living Room.
We visited my brother Ammon and his wife, Melanee, and their cuter than possible son, Cormac. Having brothers is pretty great. Having brothers that marry well and have terrific kids is even better. We left our boys in their capable hands and headed to Provo to have dinner with a few of our college friends (that we met twenty years ago this summer!).
It doesn't seem like twenty years ago.
Adam and Robbie made Rachel laugh which made me laugh more. We missed Erin. There's nothing like old friends. We caught each other up on our families and siblings. We reminded each other of old stories. We pieced together information we had about other friends we had in common. It was one of those times when you are having so much fun together that you don't want to let it end. Robbie invited us to see his baby kangaroo.
How can you say no to that kind of an offer?
We zipped back to Ammon and Melanee's for our boys and headed to Robbie's. He and his wife and their seven(!) children live on a farm south of Utah Lake where they are caretakers. Robbie is employed by a man with eclectic taste who has exotic animals. Like kangaroos.
(And bison and water buffaloes and turkeys and boars and oryx and who knows what all...we took a sort of safari that was a little astounding for south of Utah Lake.)
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| Mark, the kangaroo, and Rach's cutie son, Luke |
Mark has decided he wants a kangaroo. We could build a nice little pen for it in our side yard according to him.
I would have loved to chat forever with our friends but Rachel and Nate had several hours to drive home and we had to get back to the Salt Lake airport for Emma!
Her plane arrived at midnight. Adam and I, clutching our tickets that gave us claim to Emma Jayne (almost rhymes), stood at the top of the jetway, anxiously waiting. It was a large flight full of weary travelers and she was the last one off the plane. (If I were in charge of the world, I've decided my number one priority would be to have unaccompanied minors the first ones off the planes and into their impatient mother's arms.)
Emma was happy and tan and heavy laden with baggage which she gladly relinquished to Adam. She chattered non-stop and insisted on showing us her souvenirs when we got back to our hotel. She even bought some earrings with garish bright green feathers that hang below her shoulders. (Think Frenchie from The Voice.)
If you see her wearing them, you'll know that I've either died or have become completely incapacitated in some way.
She was astonished that I would feel that way about her lovely choice.
So good to have my girl back.
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