Moses Lake Marathon

WHEW!

I love going on vacation but I have mixed feelings about coming home from them. On one hand I am thrilled to be back sleeping in my own bed on the other I dread all the catch-up that comes when you return to reality. We got back from our 11 day trip to Moses Lake & Havillah on Monday at about 7:30pm. Monday at 8:30pm found me unpacking, washing dirty clothes, and going through the mail to make sure there weren't any bills that needed to be paid ASAP (Turns out there were two...thank goodness for the online payment option!)

Tuesday we were back to work and daycare as normal. Well as normal as can be for missing a week. I think I spent the first half of the day sifting through e-mail, returning phone calls, and trying to figure out what the latest on my projects was. Then I remembered that I hadn't made reservations for my Sun Valley excursion next week and I needed to register for GovTrip (government travel program) and apply for a new Government Credit Card (since its been 2+ years since I used mine last and it has definitely lapsed). So the latter half of my day was spent jumping through all those hoops. Trust me when I say there were hoops, I work for the Federal Government after all. It wouldn't be any fun without a few hoops, several stacks of paperwork, and a marathon session with a temperamental fax machine.

Needless to say it is now three days since we returned home and I'm finally starting to feel caught up!

By the way, our trip was GREAT! We saw so many people that we haven't seen in at least two years (and that Jack has never met). The first part of the week consisted of celebrating the Grandparent's (that would be Kevin's grandparents & Jack's great-grandparents) 60th Wedding anniversary. We celebrated that with a cake and ice cream social.

Then, since all of Kevin's Mom's side of the family had come into town for the anniversary there was a Steinbach family reunion too. This consisted of more ice cream and some really good high calorie dishes.

LtoR - Back row : Cory, Kevin, Jack, LeAnn, Jan, Carol, Ken, Diane, Frank, Trisha, Ian, Katie, Travis, Jen, & Brandon. Middle Row: Cassie, Julie, Tyler, Maurine, Alvin Front Row: Caleb, Desirae, Alex, Erin, Zach

On Tuesday our nephew Brandon turned three so that momentous event was celebrated with a very cool Lightning McQueen cake that Jen (Brandon's Mom) made and...you guessed it...more ice cream.

 

On Thursday some long-time family friends, the Hesse & Hall clans (who were all in town for their own family gatherings) came over for a get together which featured more ice cream!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally on Friday we made the run up to Havillah for the retirement party of my former District Ranger and another long-time family friend Mark Morris. There was no ice-cream at the retirement party, THANK GOODNESS! However there was this Cheesecake with Huckleberry glaze........

Let's just say I'm not going anywhere near the bathroom scale for at least a couple of weeks and leave it at that.

I know this post is getting lengthy, but there is just soooo much to share. Let me point out the highlights:

1. Family! I just love these group photos. No doubt some of you will likely see a few of these shots plastered on a Christmas Card in the near future.

 

2. Tricycles.  Not just for little kids anymore! Mom brought these home from preschool and I think the big kids had a lot more fun than the little ones.

3. Friends! You just can’t have enough of them…no matter how goofy they may be!

 
5. A Puppy! Jack was ready to take Mark’s new dog Blue (Blueberry) home with him...and maybe the cat too. I think the feeling was mutual. 

6. Little kids. They are just adorable. I think I took close to 300 pictures and most of them featured people 5 and under.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Duck races. Almost as good as the tricycles and much cleaner than real ducks.

8. Spending time with people we love and making some great memories!

Havillah, WA; View from the cemetery