February 13, 2016

Celebrations Continue

February 13, 2016

We were all invited to our son's home in McAllen for supper.  Ron and I had planned to go early in the morning since he would be pulling a pop-up tent trailer.  I got up about 6:00 and started working on Mom's quilt again.  Ron was working on the lights on the trailer and on getting it hooked up to my SUV.  We left late in the morning and about 1/3 of the way there, we started having car trouble.  Ron finally decided it was the fuel pump going out.

The fuel pump problem meant we had to drive between 30 and 40 mph the rest of the way, making it a much longer trip than anticipated.  Ron turned off the A/C to reduce strain on the car and thankfully the day was in the 70s.  By the time we finally arrived, it was starting to get hot.

Ron and Jeff set up the trailer while Barb, the three girls and I went birthday shopping.  We saw lots of pretty things, but didn't spend too much.  I had given the grandchildren Valentine money and the girls were eager to use theirs to buy gifts for other people.  They selected cookie cutters for me: a ballerina from the youngest of the girls and a humming bird and a large butterfly from the other two.

I saw a cute little quilted bird and Barb picked up three of them for me.  I know I will enjoy them for years to come in the spring decorations around the house.  They are so whimsical.

Back at the house, Mom and my brother and his wife had arrived.  Barb stuck supper in the oven, while the kids played out in the trailer.  One of the younger boys had taken it upon himself to fix lunch for the guys while we were gone and had made them all peanut butter and jelly sandwiches which they ate in the trailer.

It seemed like everyone helped get supper ready.

The 5 younger kids decided they would eat supper out in the trailer, so the rest of us had the dining room to ourselves.  Just before supper, I gave Mom her gift.  She was delighted.  I know she will use it for keeping warm.  She tends to get chilled easily.  She loved wrapping up in it.

It is always a treat to spend time with family.  I went to the kitchen after we ate and did dishes.  The dining room was still noisy and I could not pull out individual conversations.  So in the kitchen I was able to spend some time with some of the grandchildren and they were in  and out getting food and helping with the dishes.  They were all having a wonderful time.

Mom with Jeff's children

After a great supper and dessert, we all headed home.  My brother and his wife were returning to Corpus and since we were not pulling the trailer, we were able to make better time coming home.  The car will still go to the repair place Monday.

On the way home I was able to use the Cochlear wireless phone clip and have a good conversation with our son in San Antonio.  We took Mom home and then Ron and I came home.  We were tired, but it had been a very nice day.  Our son was spending the night in the camper trailer with the younger children.  They were so excited.