A fun full, love filled weekend

Friday night we had the boys in bed fairly early, after supper of course. Our friends text-ed inquiring of our plans and if we were up for company. So, about 10:30 the husband and wife combo came over for wine and conversation. Both are graduates of Pittsburg State, as are Mare and I. She is also an English teacher at the high school, and a colleague of mine. I met her while in Pittsburg and we became friends. I had a stack of game cards from a board game called "Tri-bond". The cards have categories, like many other games. What you'll find listed under the categories are three things which are related. Someone says the three things, the rest attempt to establish the common bond between the three. For example: Moses, Abraham, Noah. Answer: Old Testament characters. Of course most are not that obvious. We were kept entertained by reading those cards and guessing without the formality of playing the board game. They were good for prompting conversation and kept things interesting. They stayed clear until 1:30! We must have been having fun because we rarely stay up that late. It was nice to have company.

Saturday we slowly prepared to attend my cousin Shane's wedding to Rene in Coffeyville that evening. We didn't know whether we'd be staying at mom and dad's in Humboldt or not, so we packed for it. Clarie and family were attending the wedding also, and if they were returning to Oklahoma on Sunday, we'd have stayed. As it turns out, they planned to stay through Sunday night, so Mare, Leo, and I returned to Ottawa after the wedding. Jack rode to Humboldt with aunt Clarie and family to stay the night at grandma and grandpa's house.

The wedding was neat. It was held in a second story ballroom in downtown Coffeyville. The ballroom was big, but Shane and Rene are well liked by many friends and family, and the wedding utilized all the available space. Each table was provided with a simple, elegant "two story" round white wedding cake. We were directed to cut the cake when the bride and groom did and serve ourselves. It was a unique idea which eliminated a second long serving line. The first serving line was to feed the wedding guests good, hot barbecue chicken, baked beans, green beans, corn bread, scalloped potatoes, and dinner rolls: all good.

The ceremony was presided over by pastor, or preacher, or minister D.J. Dangerfield from Humboldt. He seems to be a very genuine, passionate individual. He is, in fact, a funny, entertaining guy. He kept the ceremony brief, upon the bride and groom's direction. He spoke flatteringly of the two of them, and it was clear he thought highly of both of them.

Each place setting at all the tables also came with a unique looking lollipop, or sucker, or whatever the correct terminology is for candy on a stick. This kept our two boys pacified through the quiet times, and kept them pretty satisfied until supper time.

Then the lights were lowered and an assortment of wedding dance rituals began. The dollar dance for the bride and groom; the mother/son dance, and the father/daughter dance. Then, they wedding party really got down to boogie. They looked like they were having a blast. Sadly, it was time for us to depart. We had a two hour drive ahead of us and we were tired from staying up late the night before.

We returned to Humboldt on Sunday, just in time for lunch. We ate pizza from the hut in town. We spent the afternoon alternating between playing with the kids outside in the snow and watching kids movies. Jack was finally able to build a snowman. He'd been wanting to all week, but the snow was too light and didn't "stick". He was thrilled! It was a good one, too because he got help from his older cousins from Oklahoma.

I played the electric guitar a little bit and sang a few songs; dad played and sang along for some, too. We ate. Again. Tuker didn't feel well, so he rested quite a bit. Then, eventually, when the boys' fatigue level was way up there, we decided it was time to call it a game. Mare and I and the boys stayed at Grandma Irene's. It's always fun to stay there. She made a nice breakfast for us the next morning and confirmed my suspicion that we are more or less obliged to eat anytime we are in each others' presence.

 We left around noon. Jack didn't want to go. He wanted to stay at his grandma Terry's, and Papa David's house.

We went home and tried to recover. It's hard work having this much fun. The week went on as usual, except Wednesday it began snowing and placed enough on the ground to cancel school on Thursday. I played with Jack in it quite a bit and shoveled snow at our house, our neighbors, and the neighbor across the street. I attended a rehearsal for the group of singers I'm joining as the entertainment for a chamber of commerce awards banquet. I'll be playing my electric guitar, my harmonica and singing Brown Eyed Girl with another, female singer. I'll also be joining three other singers and a percussionist to sing Some Enchanted Evening, and Lean on Me. This performance will be tomorrow, Saturday Jan. 22.

Snow is in the forecast for Sunday, so maybe there will be no school due to snow on Monday. We can only hope.