Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Summertime!

Is it really here again?! I don't feel as prepared for it this year! I just wrapped up the hardest semester I've had yet. Looking forward to recharging in the next couple of months. I'll be doing the day camp thing again this summer.

Scott and I just got back from a trip to Redding to meet his family. The Aldrich clan is pretty large...and this wasn't all of them. Such lovely people. I felt at ease with them immediately. We drove with Scott's sweet daughter Cassie, and her equally wonderful husband Noah. We stayed with Kim and Bill. Kim is Scott's dear cousin. He says she's like a little sister to him. The stories she must have! Note to self...talk more to Kim. Sweet to see how much they care about each other! Scott's brother Keith, his wife Dee, and their son Nathan were down, visiting from Oregon. I also got to meet Scott's brother Bob, his wife Julie, their daughter Melissa, her husband Tav, and their precious baby girl, Petra. Tav is apparently working toward being an RN too. It was neat to talk to him about his goals. Kim's son Daniel was present to provide comic relief...sounds like he's all about pyrotechnics and appears to be an uber fan of that wholesome restaurant chain, Hooters. Far be it from me to disparage his depth of character in any way! Nice guy though! Just don't call him Dan :)



That afternoon, after we'd had a chance to rest for a bit, we drove to see Sundial Bridge. What an incredible site. Why Redding though? The modern structure should have been in Japan or someplace like that. Scott and I were looking down on it and wondering if it lit up somehow. When I got home, I found out that it does, but we missed seeing that. Too bad we weren't there after dark. It was pretty warm, so we sought some shelter inside and got a snack while the rest of the family got a sunburn. :)



Scott's Aunt Sharon came for the bbq Friday evening with her friend and companion Rod. Sharon is such a sweet woman. She makes me feel like family. Hard to believe she had just had surgery a week before. She looked awesome! She is Scott's champion and holds a very special spot in his heart. After a lovely meal of barbecued steak (thank you for grilling Noah!), potatoes, and salad, we played Apples to Apples well into the evening out on their patio. Fun to hear the brothers talk about the various ways they used to torture each other. Unfortunately, Keith looks like he may have gotten the worst of it! Poor guy! Snake pits, falling knives, dart impalement, caterpillar trauma. Amazing he survived! And their poor mom, God bless her! The food bills...the countless trips to the emergency room...the stitches...

Sunday, after Kim and Bill filled us with pancakes and eggs, we loaded everyone up and headed to a park. I don't know what the name of it was, and Scott and I were trying to guess as to whether the body of water it was next to was Lake Shasta or not. It was beautiful,nevertheless, wherever it was. (Note--later found out it was Whiskeyville Lake) We had a nice picnic lunch, and played more games. I'd brought Mexican train with us, thinking we'd teach them how to play. Many of them already knew it though. Scott's mother joined us at the park. She'd driven over from Susanville with a friend. It was nice to meet her, although we didn't really seize the opportunity to talk with each other. I don't think she was expecting me. :)

On the way home, the car was all about technology. Scott and Noah were both watching movies on their ipods, while I just listened to music on mine. Scott even got me to watch Rambo with him on the way to Redding! I'll do anything for that man! Somehow, even Rambo is romantic when you're curled up in your boyfriend's arms sharing a splicer. Pretty sure he owes me a chick flick! And no falling asleep this time! The car was nice and air conditioned. Got a refreshing beverage at the drive-thru Starbucks. What an amazing world we live in! I think we left around 3pm and got back home around 8ish. It was a really fun trip, and I felt privileged to be included.


Jim Gaffigan......



Brian Regan......

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! What a great posting, you captured just about everything :-) I had a great time, thanks for going and I like your Rambo picture...