A Full House

So, last weekend we had a full house of friends and family. Friday was spent in last minute cleaning and decluttering to have space to host Kellie (dear friend from Maryland) and her family of five travelers and Heather (big sis from Oregon) and her family of four. 14 people is the most this house has held since we've been here! In preparation we finally bought a new dining table to replace my old Salvation Army one that'd been doing the job for way to long. Now we can seat more than 4 adults!


Kellie did a fabulous recap of the weekend and took some great pictures, so I could just point you to her blog post and call it good. But that would be kinda lame on my part, so I will continue (though I will borrow her picts. : ) Our little ones were all in bed (with fevers no less!) by the time Kellie and her family pulled in around 9PM (after landing in SFO earlier that day and driving 5 hours). A friend from church had dropped off a pumpkin pie with an air mattress we were borrowing, so we grownups enjoyed this after their three road weary kids were tucked in. Heather and Oswlado were delayed with needs of their youngest having to stop often along the way, so their 4.5 hour trip down I-5 turned into almost 8, but they finally made it around midnight.

In the morning we whipped up some hot cocoa while the french toast, sausage and eggs were cooking. After everyone was fed and dressed for the day, our caravan of three minivans stopped to get fixings for a deli sandwich lunch before heading up the mountains towards Tulelake Wildlife Refuge. The weather was a bit cold and threatening to snow with scattered sun breaks now and then, so we weren't sure if we'd make it the whole way to the refuge, about 1 1/2 hours drive. About halfway, we stopped at a war memorial sculpture garden and decided to break for lunch since the sun was out, we were hungry and there were tables to sit at.



Just as we'd gotten the table spread with the sandwich bar, the sun was covered by clouds, the wind picked up and snow pellets came down in bursts. After realizing it wasn't going to let up we hurriedly threw the remnants of the feast back in the cooler and piled in the warm cars. We almost decided to keep driving, but the prospect of more snow and no wildlife to be seen made us turn around and head back to the comfort of a warm house and a lazy afternoon. And that suited our jet lagged, road weary and under the weather little ones just fine.

Click here for a slideshow

Heather and Kellie and I watched the Kiera Knightley Pride and Prejudice (it was the shortest "bonnet movie" I had) while most everyone else napped or played video games or read. Sara had fun playing with baby Linnea. Matt got some rod building time in the garage. By the time dinner rolled around pizza sounded good, so we introduced the Nuss's to the novelty of Take N Bake pizza which I hadn't realized was a west coast thing. I always figured they were scarce rather than non-existent back east.

We ended the evening with a game of Scrabble by cozy firelight. Halfway into the game I was sure Evan would beat us all, but somehow I managed to come out on top. Heather claims she kept setting up good plays for me. I'm definitely not the strongest Scrabble player, but it is always fun to play. Oh yeah, and I made some frothy Vermont Steamers (2 c milk, 2 T real maple syrup, 1 tsp butter, top with cinnamon) in our Cocoa Latte machine. A microwave and blender would do the same thing I suppose, but it's much easier to just pour it in and push a button. I almost love this drink more than hot cocoa. It has to be frothy to get the full flavor, IMO.



Sunday everyone went to church except our little family. I'd lost my voice at the end of the night, plus my pink eye was only slightly better. Our kids were still feverish and we were pretty beat from kids being awake and/or in our bed at various times during the night. This allowed the little ones to nap and us to summon some energy and get a nice lunch buffet spread so everyone could eat when they returned. After a leisure lunch, packing commenced and everyone was ready to take off. We posed for a picture in the yard with Mt. Shasta barely breaking through the clouds. Group shots are always fun, especially when they involve little kids and an auto timer. ;) I was just glad the impressive mountain finally came out of the clouds and that the Nuss's didn't drive all the way without getting a glimpse.




It was so so wonderful to see Kellie again. And that she and my sister could meet in person. The time went way too fast, and before I knew it we had to tearfully hug and wave goodbye. It made me so happy that they were able to squeeze us into their California vacation. It also made me very homesick for Maryland and left me wanting to fly back next week for a visit, to swing by Tuesday playgroup, hang out with everyone there, take a jaunt up to PA. sniff.

I'm so grateful for my "online friends" who keep blogs and read books together on the Nook (our online bookgroup). It has made moving far away a lot less hard as I'm still settling in with new friends out here. But to end on an upbeat note, it is good to be closer to my family. As Heather and Oswaldo left a couple hours later, it was a nice feeling knowing that I would get to see my sister again in a few weeks, not sometime next year. Okay, I didn't mean to make this so emotional at the end here. I better quit while I'm ahead! It as a great weekend. The End.