A Usual Stay at my Parents House

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I spent the night at my parent’s house last night. Sometimes when Justin has to be away we sneak over to "Nana and Papa Horses" to have some extra special party time with them.

My parent’s house is, truly, a place like no other. It is not the house or the location, it is them. They attract people like magnets to themselves. Well, it is not really them...it is how much they love Jesus and then everyone who walks in the door. You can't be there a whole day without seeing about five... or twenty, different people stopping in to say hi, borrow something, spend the night or stay for a meal.

We were spending the night. All six of us. Then we had another visitor, Sam...my dad's very extended cousin, which, I am still not really sure how they are related. Then Cody, a friend from my parent’s winters in Arizona who has made is a second annual trip to Michigan to stay for the summer. My parents introduced him to Jesus a few years ago and now he is an on fire believer, eats most meals at the table, and talks about the grandkids like they were his. 

I made fish tacos and my mom fixed a fishing pole up for Spence, hunted for worms and told him he could take the turtles he caught home for a pet. Sam came in and with steaks and we threw those on and then Julia came in with her three little babies. There was roping going on in the arena. My boys jumped in the car with her and we swooped her little ones into a pack and play and sat down for dinner.

After dinner we walked up to watch a bunch of tired parents and dirty kids. They fell into the back porch at 10 pm. We feed them all a juice box and Doritos to top off the night...the parents too. It is like the party never stops over there. 

The next morning we all had breakfast together and chatted about the Lord and how important he is in our lives. His name just floated through every piece of conversation… just like is always has. The boys fished and I sat on the porch with coffee and my baby. I dug for worms and baited the hook.

My mom wanted to plant some flowers at her sister’s grave and needed some assistant ( manual labor). The grave is just over the hill from the arena, past the apple trees, in a family cemetery my dad built. We looked at the flowers...looked at the pot...looked at the kids...drank a little more coffee...feed the baby a bottle... and then found a way to haul it all up there without a visit to the chiropractor.

My mom had HER four-wheeler and HER train that she HAS to have to pull her grandkids around. She won't let anyone else touch it. She will probably ride off into heaven on that thing one day...a modern day Elijah. We loaded that baby up and headed off to our cemetery maintenance. Shovels, mulch, 4 kids, flower pot,  and watering can. Done.

We made the boys dig the holes. Hannah cried because we forgot to get her shoes and she was stepping on the pine needles. Sam stopped by to take a picture of the cross over the cemetery and made all of us pose. Then I took a picture of Sam in front of the cross. He hauled the pot up for us. Alisa drove past us headed to the beach. She got out with all her kiddos. They came right as we were finishing up. I made a joke that is was just like when she was a kid...always hiding in the bathroom after dinner until the dishes were done.

All the kids headed back to the house in the train. I lost my seat. We threw on some suits and headed to the beach. Julia pulled in with her kids to get our numbers up to 15 kiddos. Mom went back and made lunch. We brought the kids up and locked them in the back yard.  The mom's drank diet soda's. We let our kids run until there was absolutely, no denying, that they needed a nap. During lunch Sarah showed up, Julia and Alisa left. Mom and I headed back down to the beach. Boys fished, kayaked and caught turtles. Elijah, the oldest took a boat-load of kids of a fishing tour. The best oldest cousin/role model EVER.

We left with a dirty van, dirty kids, some rotten bananas from the day before, two turtles, sunburns, an ice cream container filled with homemade soup, Dum Dum suckers in everyone's mouth, no matching socks, enough sand in the babies bottom to refill our sandbox... and full hearts.

Mom thought: Someday, when I grow up, I want to be just like my parents. I love to be around them. How do we do that as parents of our own little ones? We love Jesus, put him first and spread the GOOD NEWS to EVERYONE that walks in our path. 

Snappy and Scratchy our newest additions.  One happy turtle owner!