Their visit was 7 days of food, fun, and family. It was full of lots of things that made for an eventful week.
Over the next few posts, I want to share my personal recollections of their time here with details of the ten things that will stick with me for years to come. They are in as much of a chronological order as possible. I hope you enjoy the stories and the pictures.
Meals & Mingling
The mortar of the time that my sisters have come to visit us here in Kentucky over the years have been the meals we've had at my house. This year was no different.
On Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday nights our dozen family members gathered together on Beeler Avenue to spend some time and have dinner.
The menus over the course of the three dinners included: pork tenderloin, barbecue ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, corn on the cob, baked beans, mac & cheese.
While the food was delicious, the great thing about the time spent together was all the people that I love hanging out and enjoying each other's company. The Pearsons got to spend some rare moments with their family here in Kentucky.
It did my heart good to see Bob talking with Theresa (pictured below), Shari talking with Heather & Brandi, James and Michael talking video games or movies with Bobby and Teejai.
The evenings of our mingling culminated on Wednesday, the last night that all of us would be together for supper. We celebrated TJ's birthday. Here's a short video of her surprise.
Crossroads Preview
If you're a regular reader of this blog you know that I've been posting updates about the construction of a new type of convenience store here in Smiths Grove since back in February.
The store finally opened on July 16. I'll have a separate post about the grand opening later in the week.
On the night before it officially opened there was a special open house preview. All residents of Smiths Grove and their families were invited. Paula, Theresa, Shari, Bob, Bobby, TeeJai, and I went to check it out.
The place was really crowded. There were a lot of people coming out to see what the new store was all about. The samples and give aways were really impressive. Again, I'll have more details in the post dedicated to the grand opening.
The Pearsons were very impressed with our new store. The free ice cream, cinnamon buns, and sandwiches were right up their alley. Even my nephew was surprised by the great reception and all the free stuff.
Being At "The Bryce"
Although to a lesser extent than in past years, a key location for spending time with my PA family this year took place at the Bryce Motel.
In a unique aspect to their vacation, each year, the Pearsons make breakfast on portable stove set up outside their motel room. They did this 4 days out of their vacation. They invited Paula and I to join them. We took up their invitation a couple of those days. Eggs, sausage, Canadian bacon, and pork roll are on the menu.
I loved going to their room in the mornings. It was just about the only time Paula and I were able to be with them by ourselves during the week.
On Thursday morning, while in their room around breakfast time, I gave a very shaky but appreciated performance on my ukulele in honor of TeeJai's birthday.
The other great aspect about our visitors staying at the Bryce motel is that we get to use their pool. I went swimming with Shari, Bob & TeeJai twice during the week. A reminder of the our first swim is probably still there as I write this post. A quarter I dropped in the 8 foot deep part of the pool landed on the bottom near the pool drain. No one could swim down deep enough to get it.
The 2nd time I got into the Bryce Inn pool with my family this year was very special for me. I'll explain why later in the list.
The Fixer Uppers
About a month ago I bought a second glider rocker for my wife for $40. It was a real bargain but had one glaring problem. It squeaked, a lot. So much so that if the source of the noise was not located and fixed the chair could not be used.
For what seems like almost a decade, the florescent light in the "dog room" of our house (it's now my office/den) has not worked right. It had to be "coaxed" into turning on by repeatedly flipping the switch or just didn't turn on at all.
I'm not a handy man and or an electrician and knew I would have to get someone else to help me with the light and the chair.
On the Wednesday night of my PA family's visit, while everyone was gathered at the house, 3 of my family fixed both of those problems for me.
As I was out on my carport grilling hot dogs and hamburgers for the whole gang, Bob, Theresa, and James worked on the glider and replaced the florescent light in the "dog room."
The light was a pretty routine job but they had to really work at finding the source of the squeak in the rocker. They checked the bearings and the joints in the wood.
Finally Bob discovered that a pair of screws had broken off and that was what caused the noise. Replacing them fixed the rocker like new for which I am very grateful.
Sunday Afternoon With Bob
On the Sunday of their visit, the Pearsons went with Paula and me to church. This was the first time that I didn't participate in the service while they were here. I just decided to sit in the pew next to them and enjoy the experience.
That afternoon the women of the family went to Brandi's Pampered Chef party at her cousin Jackie's house.
That left Bob, Bobby, and me at the house alone. Bobby was into watching the final game of the World Cup soccer competition. He was glued to the TV while it was on.
Bob and I were not that interested in it so we left at halftime and went into Bowling Green. I had some grocery and other shopping to do. During our stops at Michael's craft store, Meijer's, and Sams Club we did nothing but laugh and joke around.
We joked about remembering our shopping list, Bob's addiction to Twizzler's, a song about "toast", and a lot more.
To understand most of the things that happened you kinda had to be there. But my point is I had the best time with my brother-in-law than I have had in a long time.
Those few hours on that afternoon will always be one of the highlights of their visit for me.
So there you have the first half of the ten things that stand out as recollections from the Peasons' visit this year. Come back again tomorrow for more including: Celebrating TeeJai's birthday, Going shopping with "the girls", and more.
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