I think I saw all of my aunts and uncles this weekend, which is strange for someone my age, I think. My maternal cousin had his ordination this weekend, so all of that side of the family gathered on Friday to celebrate. He is currently a minister at a church in PA, but had started down the path to ordination in Iowa and just continued here. It was nice to see him and his lovely wife, and my cousin Laura who just moved to Frankfurt, Kentucky. It was such a short visit, so I hope to see them again at Christmas; but again, if I get to see my favorite cousins twice a year, I'll take it!
My dad's family gathered because his aunt was celebrating her 96th birthday in Iowa. She flew here from San Francisco with her son and daughter (my dad's cousins), and it was really great to see them and all of the local (midwestern) extended family. I hadn't been to my aunt's house in Holstein for years, so that was kind of weird. What was also kind of sad was seeing how worn-out my grandmother looked next to her older sister, and I realized just how precious her time here is. I also told my big sister that when I'm 91, she'd better be around for me to call every day! I sat next to Grandma for a while and Audrey flapped and sang and worked on picking up cheerios with her little fingers, so I think she enjoyed that. If any of you are looking for something to experience in your lifetime, consider adding "playing with your 19th great-grandchild" to your list. Truly amazing.
Emily, though, did not come with us to western Iowa on Saturday, because her grandma Sullivan's house was on the way, and she stayed and played there. She had a great time, and didn't feel "left behind" at all, which was my only concern about the plan. We all stayed the night in Barnum, then visited Pat in the morning, and the girls did a great job. It is TOUGH taking two little girls in to visit him, but they really do their best and are very well-behaved. I must say though, speaking of things to experience in ones lifetime, that breastfeeding a baby in a prison is not one that I had on my list!
One of the coolest things: Emily can draw faces now! I asked her the other day to draw me a person, and it was neat to see her thought process come out on paper. But when she drew a face, wow, it was really a face when she was done! The eyes were the same size, symmetrically positioned, the head was a complete circle, and the mouth and nose and ears were all in the right places. She drew several while we were visiting Pat - and inspired by his choice of facial hair, her faces had scribbles on their chins for goatees. My amazing little girl!! I was also very proud of her when I picked her up from Amanda's on Friday, where she did a cutting and gluing project. Amanda said that her rule is kids have to be 3 before they get scissors, but it didn't seem to make sense to keep them from Emily, and she's doing great with them! I am SO proud of her. AND - she can pedal her tricycle now, and coast along on her pedal-less bicycle fast enough that she's starting to play around with coasting and balancing. It's pretty fun to see, except when I have to be outside watching her and inside watching Audrey.
Audrey flapped and smiled at me for probably 10 minutes tonight, after supper, playing out on the porch. I considered getting a camera, but I was selfish and just enjoyed it for myself. What a beauty she is. The other night, I had to turn on the light to give her medicine at 3 AM, and usually in the night I just leave the lights off and try to get the noisy baby back to sleep. But when I looked at her, she wasn't just some loud baby, she was Audrey, and she was beautiful. It took me nearly an hour to get back to sleep, but somehow the memory of her pretty face in the dim light didn't make me that upset about it. Or maybe it's because I'm getting more sleep these days and am gaining back some sense of rationality. I was so afraid it was gone for good!!!
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