Memorial Day Weekend

Please excuse the age of these posts.  I have been having computer problems but will try to get caught up now!!

Memorial Day Weekend was really busy around the Frericks household. 

On the Thursday before, Ken rented a U-Haul trailer, hooked it behind the jeep and headed to Charleston to move Trevor back to Quincy for 5 months.  Originally he had planned on packing up Thursday and coming home Friday but he was back home by late Thursday, with all of Trevor’s stuff, but no Trevor.  Trevor’s girlfriend, Leah, was coming in to Charleston on Saturday so Trevor decided to wait until Sunday to drive back to Quincy.

That meant bright and early Friday morning Ken and I were unloading the U-Haul contents in to the garage so we could take the trailer back before incurring another rental day.  Suddenly our garage was well equipped for a college party with a beer pong table, bar signs,  bags game, etc.,  

When Kyle and Jenni arrived Friday evening, we had most items moved to the basement which was good since Kyle was having some back trouble.  Ken is really good at adjusting the boys’ backs, but in this case, it seemed that with Ditka and Staley so interested, he was getting a bit too much help.

 

 

 

 

We decided we could hold out against turning on the A/C for the weekend so grandpuppy, Staley, decided that the perfect spot to hangout was on the cool ceramic tile in the middle of the kitchen where she could stretch out to get the most surface coverage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Sunday, Ken and I travelled to Knox City, MO, to celebrate college graduations of my niece Jane’s son, Justin, and her stepson, Nathan.  Several years ago, after my brother-in-law Wayne passed away, Jane and her husband, Joe, purchased the Knox City farm from my sister, Betty.   Jane and Joe live in St. Louis, so this is now their weekend getaway and also gets lots of use during hunting seasons.

I have fond memories of this farm where my sister and brother-in-law spent decades developing an outdoorsman’s paradise, putting in 4 stocked lakes and miles of trail through the woods.  They’d purchased the farm when I was in grade school so big sister had me in tow many weekends.  I learned to shoot a gun here, to fish, pick blackberries, hunt mushrooms and to drive 4 wheelers! 

When we arrived most of the younger folk were away from ‘base camp’, either riding something motorized on the trails, swimming or fishing.  We set up our lawn chairs in between the trailer and the cabin with the rest of the crew.  Jane and Joe replaced the original well-worn mobile home with a new one (on the left) a few years back but the the original cabin (right) is still in good condition but mostly used for storage now.

My godson, Bruce, Jane’s brother, took my sister Betty out on the trails to have a look around at the farm that had been so much a part of her years past.

Ken and I took one of the other 4-wheelers and headed out for our own explorations.  Unfortunately, once we’d travelled some distance, I realized I had a camera but no memory card so I missed a lot on nice scenery pictures!

The ladies had an enormous feed set out for us on our return (and, after I had reunited memory card to camera!!)

 

 

While the party was celebrating college graduation for Jane and Joe’s sons, Justin and Nathan, the newest family member, Dalton, seemed to be in 7th heaven playing with his new cousins and taking them exploring on his new family’s farm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here’s my niece, Jane, with Dalton, who she and Joe have recently adopted.

I am truly in awe of Jane and Joe with Dalton.  With their 3 sons in college, they decided they would try out becoming part of the foster parenting program. 

Lo and behold, at a time when they would now be on their own, having raised their family, they decided to adopt Dalton.  Like us, they’ve raised some ‘live wire’ sons and so go in to this knowing what they are taking on.

Like his new big brother, Justin, Dalton, has the mischievous little sparkle in his eyes, that tells you he will keep their lives interesting!!

This is one very lucky little boy to have these two parents.

 

 

Ken and I headed back to Quincy as the sun was setting, enjoying the beautiful evening drive with top down on the Audi.

Trevor had arrived and the evening was spent organizing his new ‘apartment’ in the basement.

Memorial Day Ken fixed his usual ‘big breakfast’ for the family and then after filling up Jenni’s Pilot with boxes of items we’d still been storing for Kyle, we said our good-byes to them. 

One of the things I love most about being home is all of the family interaction and especially sharing meals and talk around the table.   This was a great holiday weekend for that. 

Now we get to begin the transition of learning to have one of our sons living with us again full-time.  Considering Trevor has never been home more than two weeks in the last 5 years, this will be a real adjustment for all 3 of us!!

Stay tuned!!

Hugs, C