MARSDEN Moments: October-November 2012

November 21, 2012

Charlie and Kimberly and Darci and her family arrived on Wednesday for Thanksgiving. I had Tuesday to pull things together in preparation for Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and our neighbors, Larry, Patti and Dawn McDermott (their daughter Ariel had her wisdom teeth out the day before and didn't come to dinner) (There were 17 people present.) Kim left on the 25th and Charlie flew to Texas on the 27th to pack up the house, so I went back for the final walk-thru on the afternoon of November 27th. On the 28th he closed on his old house in the morning and closed on his new house in Longmont in the afternoon (all in San Antonio).

November 29, 2012

Eric had a friend, Brooke and her sister, spend the weekend with us. They left first thing in the morning and we went to Church with Charlie. Then Charlie packed up and went to live in his new house...on the floor because it would be 5 more days before his furniture arrived and Kim didn't arrive until Dec 8th. But that ment no more long commutes to work.

November 12, 2012

What ended up happening was that Kari came on November 9th-12th and got some movers and storage unit set up and started packing. I arrived on the 12th and took over from there and with the help from Vera Anton (Kari's mother-in-law) I packed and cleaned and got everything into the storage unit. We finished the afternoon of the 17th, so I caught the AMTRAK train to Chicago and visited with Kari and her family. It was delightful. Their house is a real fixer-upper (walls removed, joists broken, ceilings removed, plumbing, etc, but it's in a wonderful neighborhood. We explored downtown Chicago with Liam and Quinn and I learned to really love those darling children. We saw the lake, the silver bean monument,the Fannie Mae candy store, the Christmas parade prep and Kari is drawn to all jewelry stores. Sunday morning we went to sacrament meeting with Kari's family and was able to see James Carroll and his family. James had been Ryan's best friend (and cousin) when we lived in Littleton, Colorado. I gave Liam and Quinn a hug at church before I left for the airport and they both hugged and kissed me and told me that they loved me and would miss me. That touched my heart. Kari was so grateful that I had come to visit, but it was me that really got the blessing of all that love.

I caught the train back to Detroit, slept on the floor of Kay's vacant house and left at 4:30 a.m. for the airport. Blair and Grace picked me up from the airport and we had breakfast. After lunch, Blair, Ryan and I headed to Longmont, CO to help Charlie to the walk-thru of his new home.

November 5, 2012

We visited Carl and Peggy Haynie the night before we left to go home. They were wonderful friends from Florida. Blair was Carl's Stake Executive Secretary while he was Stake President and Peggy and I taught Seminary in the Weston Ward and then I was her Visiting Teaching Coordinator while she was Relief Society President. (My other callings were: Temple volunteer, (2 shifts a month at the Orlando Temple which was a 3 1/2 hour drive away so we would leave Friday at noon and work Friday night, stay in a hotel and work Saturday morning have lunch and then drive home), Stake Young Women's Camp Director and Seminary teacher (teaching 5 days a week at my home at 6 a.m.). Peggy Haynie and Alba Barreiros were the last friends I visited with in Florida, at lunch at the Grand Lux Restaurant, before I started driving to St Augustine to pick up Eric from EFY and then head to California where we were moving. We had a lovely visit, they live about a 1/2 hour away from Ashley and had just bought a new home that we got to see. The Haynie's had been living in Utah but had just moved to Texas.

November 2, 2012

A few days later, while still at Ashley's, Kayleen called from China where she was teaching English for the next year. She was beside herself because she had lost her renters, who were friend from her ward, and didn't know how to make ends meet. In order for her to get a house rental company to rent her house, she would have to have all of her stuff moved out. Since she was renting to friends, she simply moved stuff downstairs and left a lot of furniture and stuff upstairs. She didn't know how she could stay in China without the money from the house rental as she was only paid $850 a month plus a dorm room. I had planned on flying down to Ashley's and had bought a plane ticket, then Blair wanted to come and we drove instead. I told her I could change my ticket to Detroit and move the stuff for her. I could hear the relief and gratitude and tears in her voice. I knew that was the right thing for me to do, even though I didn't know how I would pull it all off.

October 29, 2012

Ashley delivered Ben Wheeler on October 29th in Plano, Texas. Blair and I drove to Texas (Ryan and Eric stayed home to take care of Grandma Marsden) to see Ben and help Ashley with the children. Blair played and read a lot to Abby, Spencer and Lizzy while I cared for Ashley and Ben and cooked, cleaned and shopped. Ashley recouped quickly and walked over a mile with the children Trick or Treating while pushing Ben in the stroller. Then on Sunday she walked with all 4 children, while pushing the stroller to Church (about a mile) and back. (I rode so I wouldn't smell sweaty and nasty.) We had an enjoyable visit with them.

The day that we pulled into Ashley's driveway, we got a call from Charlie Dalton, my niece Kimberly Seaver's husband. He had stayed with a week before we left while he was transitioning to a new job. Kimberly was still in San Antonio, Texas finishing her teaching job at the university. She is pregnant and very sick so he hated to leave her. Charlie had moved to a hotel in Boulder, but the fumes from all of the Marajuana smoke was filling his room and the hotel management wouldn't do anything about it. He asked if he could come back to live and commute the hour to work. He was delightful to have around and the boys enjoyed him and respected him. He's a great example to them. We were thrilled to have him back again and the boys had someone to help them watch grandma.

Oct 20-26, 2012

Gus playing peek a boo with mom at the park.

Katie and Gus flew here from Loma Linda, California. It was so much fun to watch Gus grow up and start walking around furniture and try to talk. Darci and her family came down to play with them.