Flashback Friday - Happy Family Reunion

On the second (or third) Friday of each month I go back five years to pick out one of my favorite blog posts for that month and repost it here on Flashback Friday.

August 2004 was so wonderful I couldn't stop at one post, so here are three posts from that month.

Note: Granddaughter Kimmy starts high school in two weeks and we NEVER dress alike anymore.

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Arrival of the Tall People

Friday the 13th was a great day for me. My son John and his wife Anne arrived in SW Michigan from their home in Idaho. They are here for John's sixteen year high school reunion and a family visit.

It's been over five years since we've seen each other in person. That was the wedding in Las Vegas, Anne's home town. John and I keep in pretty close touch with blogs and email so I didn't realize how much I missed his presence.

Now I know I have to fight the inertia that keeps me in Michigan and learn to take that plane to Post Falls Idaho. I never want to go five years without seeing my son again.

Anne and I don't know each other very well, but I know her well enough to say I'm a very fortunate mother to have my son married to such a fine woman. They make a perfect couple and it makes me smile to see them together.

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My Baby is Going to be a Daddy

This is my son John when he was nine months old. He's over thirty now and here on a visit with his wife Anne.

Remember back on July 30 when I posted about finding two four-leaf clovers?

I wrote that even with the clover I still wasn't expecting the good fortune that came my way when I learned that son John and daughter-in-law Anne were coming to visit the middle of August.

Well after we greeted each other and settled in for a chat, John asked what good luck I got from the second clover. A rather strange question. I couldn't think of anything better than his and Anne's visit from Idaho, so I told him I didn't know.

That was the right answer! He told me the second clover worth of good luck is due to make me a grandmother around April 4 in Idaho.

What a surprise! But a very welcome surprise.

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Family Fun Day

Tuesday was "Family Fun Day" with Uncle John and Aunt Anne visiting from Idaho. We spent the day at the Binder Park Zoo. What a wonderful memorable day we had together.

The last time eight year old Kimmy saw her Uncle John and Aunt Anne in person, she was only two years old. It didn't seem to matter. John and Kimmy took up like they'd been playing with each other for her entire childhood.


This old Jeep is parked in the Wild Africa area of the Binder Park Zoo. The kids love to get in it and pretend they're driving.

Uncle John, the passenger, wishes Kimmy would watch where she is going. Heather, outside the window, is enjoying a good laugh over Kimmy's driving. In about six more years, Heather won't think Kimmy's driving is so funny.

Kimmy had her face painted at the zoo compliments of her Uncle John. Yes, that is a spider in the middle of her forehead. Those are spider webs on her cheeks. She liked the paint job, but it itched so much she decided to wash it off before we went out to dinner.


After the zoo visit, Monette treated us to dinner at Applebee's. The waitress was so nice. Taking our picture was her idea and she even shut the blinds so it would turn out.

It was a day I want to remember for the rest of my life - to have my children together and enjoying each other's company. Because we live so far apart, these are indeed rare and precious moments.

Going around the table left to right:

• Me - Monette's daughter. Heather and John's mother. Kimmy's grandma.
• Heather - Monette's granddaughter. My daughter. John's sister. Kimmy's mother.
• Kimmy - Monette's great-granddaughter. My granddaughter. Heather's daughter. John and Anne's niece.
• Anne - John's wife. My daughter-in-law. Mother-to-be of my second grandchild.
• Monette - My mother. Heather and John's grandmother. Kimmy's great-grandmother.
• John - Monette's grandson. My son. Heather's brother. Anne's husband. Kimmy's uncle. Father-to-be of my second grandchild.

Tuesday night is kid's night at Applebee's. Kimmy got dinner for free plus she got a balloon and a red flower painted on her cheek. It was the perfect ending to a day that was as perfect as a day can be.

Kimmy and I didn't plan to dress alike. She knew I had a shirt like hers and she thought I might wear it, so she wore hers. She was pleased to know that I'd thought the same way.

This is so special. It makes it even sweeter because I know the time is coming soon when she will not want to be dressing like her grandma.

Tomorrow (Thursday) morning we are meeting for breakfast before John and Anne drive off across the state to the Detroit Airport. It's going to be a sad good-by for all of us.