HOWEVER- with a
On Sunday morning, the girls and I loaded up and headed NORTH!
It took us a while to get there since we had to stop for headphones and lunch and a couple of potty breaks, but we finally made it about 1:00! As many times as I have made that trip, I still get giddy when I see the Country Club road exit on I40! We were all happy to get a Mimi hug.
After some lunch and ice cream, we settled in at Mimi's for a relaxing afternoon. The girls got out all of their stuff and set up shop, and Mimi and I settled in for some good one on one visiting, followed by IRONING! :) I know it sounds crazy, but I love to do her ironing. First of all, after seeing the shape she was in this summer, it is great to know she isn't doing her ironing and hurting herself again. And second, it gives me an excuse to go to El Reno! It's my purpose! :) And I managed to get it all done before dinner was ready! Hopefully I'll have another closet full waiting on me when I get back for Christmas!
Aunt Susan (better known to Macie Claire as Uncle Susan) came over just in time for dinner and visited. It was a great time of just RELAXING! We knew the Holt's would be rolling in some time late that night, but they didn't end up getting there until almost 2am!
Mimi and I watched a hallmark movie and the girls ended up crashing (since they got up at the CRACK of dawn excited to head to Mimi's!). This was the view of my bed when I got ready to call it a night.
The next morning brought breakfast with Byron, Bit and Grayson! We were so excited to hug their necks!!! Even if they were completely exhausted from only getting a half night of sleep. They headed off to go see Taron and Nolan and Mimi and I MAY have sat around and drank coffee in our pajamas until well after 1pm. I think that's what I love most about being at Mimi's. We just take it easy. No schedule. No where to rush off to. No hurrying. And the girls love it too. We just soak in our time of talking and playing.
After the Holt's and Taron got back to town, Roby and Kyson joined the party too! And no party is complete in El Reno without SIDS! As Daddy said when I sent him the picture "It looks like Mimi's crew took over SIDS!" Yes we did!
Poor Byron!
After we got home, us card players did our thing.....the guys did their thing (whatever that is)....the kids played.... and then the Abners brought Krispy Kreme! YUM! 4pm dinner followed by Krispy Kreme for dessert....YES PLEASE!
But as soon as they all left, it got REALLY quiet! Grayson went with Taron and Nolan to the Abners, so it was just Mimi, Uncle Byron and ME! And none of us are too hyper- so it worked out great! We did come up with a story that made us sound way more exciting than we really are.... it involved loading up in the Buick, grabbing Aunt Bonnie and taking on the Casino until we got kicked out because Mimi was dancing on the tables...... yep. That makes us sound way more exciting than heading straight to bed to enjoy a good night of quiet sleep!
I did enjoy my quiet morning coffee the next morning with Mimi before everyone got there!
But the quiet was short lived, and the munchkins returned for breakfast with Aunt Bit. The quiet was nice, but I sure enjoyed watching these cousins play together!
And to compare.... This year compared to Christmas 5 years ago!
These kiddos curled up for some movie and IPAD time on Mimi's bed.
Before long, it was PIE TIME! If there is one thing that Johnson's do well, it's eat PIE!
Taron and Macie were in charge of keeping it mixed while Mimi tended to other things.
After dinner, we all gathered in the living room to watch some old home movies that Uncle Dave put on DVD.
We still had one cherry pie to make, but it was time for Dancing with the Stars..... Who knew that our Mimi was such a huge fan?! Not us! But she is! So while she watched that..... I attempted her cherry pie! I was a nervous wreck. I knew I could follow the recipe. But it was MIMI'S CHERRY PIE people!!! That would be like going to Mrs. Field's house and making her cookies! Or to the Pillsbury Dough Boy's house and making biscuits! (ok ok- that last one may have been a bit of a stretch- but you get my point. STRESSFUL!)
On Wednesday morning, Mimi had to get up to take Aunt Bonnie to the doctor, so I set my alarm to be able to wake her up. But when I got up, she was already up. Soooo- since I was already awake.....COFFEE!
It was quiet for a while since the girls slept in a bit. Mimi and I enjoyed that! (I am sure Mimi REALLY enjoyed the quiet since her house had been a little louder in the last few days than she is used to!)
She got dressed, everyone started stirring, Mimi left, and the Thanksgiving cooking began!
Most of the cooking was uneventful. Except for this one small thing.....the turkey was still partly frozen. Yep- this is the kind of thing that family stories are made up of! And we will be laughing at this one for YEARS to come!
Bit put the turkey in water to help it thaw on the frozen side for a while. And eventually she decided to get the "stuff" out of it and get it cooking in the oven. That's where the comedy show started.
Bit couldn't get the neck out of the Turkey (after figuring out what WAS the neck). So good ole Aunt Susan stepped in to help her. And what transpired next will live on forever in Johnson family legend..... I'll let the pictures do the talking first....
But alas, the tongs worked, and the neck was freed. The bird was seasoned and placed in the oven! Pretty sure I was still giggling while I was in the shower!
Everyone started arriving from their respective houses and the family fun was in full swing!
I was so excited to see this sight turning on Reformatory Rd!!!
I had no idea that he was going to get to make it until the night before when he told me he was going to try to be there to eat. But I didn't know it was a for sure thing until he called and said "come get me!" So it was pretty awesome! It did my heart good to see him sitting there and enjoying family time with all of us.
Before we ate, we all joined hands to pray, and someone said "Wait, Where's Aunt Bonnie?" "Oh- she's in the bathroom." SO we stood there and waited. And waited a little more. And joked about just going in there and joining her and telling her to keep her seat so we could pray and eat. Then, she emerged from the bathroom and we said "We've been waiting on you to pray!" And in the stillness and seriousness of the moment when the whole family was in a circle, all joined by hands, and ready to thank our Lord for this wonderful meal and time with family...... Aunt Bonnie held up an empty toilet paper roll and came right through the middle of our family circle, walked to the trash can, and said "WELL- I WAS CHANGING THE ROLL!" Yep- every family needs an Aunt Bonnie.
It was a wonderful meal. And before I knew it, it was time for the girls and I to pack up and head home for Thanksgiving Round 2!
It was hard to leave everyone there and head home (even though I knew another wonderful day of family time was ahead of me in Texas the next day), but it was made so much easier knowing the wonderful time we had and the memories we made. Nothing can replace time spent with family. I have learned the importance of TIME in the last year, and my goal is to make every moment and opportunity count. I pray that my girls grow up looking back on these times and remembering the love that was felt. I have fond memories of holidays spent in Oklahoma growing up. But I enjoy these opportunities so much more now that I am an adult. I soak in every story, every moment of laughter, every warm feeling. I am so thankful for these wonderful people that God placed in my life. He was doing some of his best work when he made all of us a family.
No comments:
Post a Comment