I was so spoiled in Spokane. My daddy let me borrow his truck for the whole week. My sister put me in an upstairs room away from all the little ones so I could sleep whenever I wanted. (Being pregnant I super appreciated it.) My mom and dad were kind enough to remember that I hate being cold with a passion and placed a truly wonderful heater in the room. It was so generous of everyone and considering that I was alone for the first time in years, I really felt everyone's kindnesses.
my big brother, Matt and his oldest, Eric
I think the only problem I had was letting go of the mommy thing. I totally overstepped several times with the kids, but my siblings were kind enough to let me know nicely. I just didn't think it would be so hard to turn off! Thankfully, everyone was patient with me. That's when I hit my stride as a spoiler for the kids I love, but never get to see.
so neat to have him in the temple with us
So the first day I was there we went to the temple first. It was so wonderful. I am not usually a crier about spiritual or personal things in general, but watching my nephew (the oldest grandchild in our family) perform ordinances in the holy temple of God with his daddy for his great-grandpa who he knew very well was a pretty special moment for our family.
His grandma was very grateful and pleased. It was a great moment for our family.
Later that night I had heard from my mom-in-law that Santa was going to officially welcome everyone to the holiday season downtown. So I mentioned the event to my family and they decided to take all the kids down to see the whole thing. The tree downtown was amazing!
I TOLD you it snowed!!! I love Spokane in the winter
(from the inside)
isn't my brother's family beautiful?
Santa was there and several pix later we were also getting hot chocolate and face painting. It was so cute. The kids loved the chance to get out and I enjoyed being able to be Auntie Tamy instead of mommy. It was a great time and I got to cuddle my nephews and nieces as much as I wanted. I also got to be as partial as I wanted and spoil whoever I chose. Not a normal situation for me. I so LOVED it! Being an Aunt is awesome!
Parker Spencer, Larissa Call, Andy Call, Izak Call, Matt Call, and Eric Call
aren't they all super cute?
these face-painters were so...well, jolly
they loved all the kids they met and were so sweet to do this volunteer
The next fun thing I got to do was a girls (sort of) night out with my "other" family. I so love my in-laws. It's not like the "usual" relationship. I adore my husband's parents and his sisters are my best friends. I know it sounds all unbelievable like, but I've known them since I was 16 yrs old. They were my other family before they officially became my other family. The second night I was there, we all went out to this great restaurant that had recently re-opened so the prices were low. It was great! We did end up waiting forever for our food, but we had so much getting reacquainted I didn't notice until baby started getting upset. Finally our food came and it was really great. At the end of the evening we did one of my favorite activities: we went hot tubbing. They have a hot tub at their house which is only about 15 min from my parents home. It was a really fun night. It was also a unique night because on our girls' night we brought Mike, my father-in-law. He was excited to see me (as I was him), but didn't want to overstep since he knew the purpose was for the girls. We definitely invited him along and had a blast.
my sisters - Renee' Pendergrass and Katie Woods
beautiful as always!
Honestly, I was so taken aback by how much they wanted to see me. I know that they love me and I so love them, but I don't often see the family without Chris. It was such a touching surprise to find out that even if Chris isn't around they really just like being with me. I felt so loved. It was a great feeling for me.
Now I refuse to go day by day simply because other than some fun moments that I AM posting about, it was a trip to see family with all of the family stuff that goes with that. I was really happy to see that my family is relatively happy, healthy, and doing things that bring them all closer together.
Well, during this trip I also wanted to make sure and talk to each sibling one on one. It's not a normal opportunity, but one I felt important to take advantage of. So, I grabbed Matt one morning before a major conference call and we got to eat out for lunch. Then I somehow got Beckie for a wonderful conversation about, of all things, Shakespeare (a favorite topic of mine at any time). I even got Jim for a little bit the day after Thanksgiving when we went shopping and had lunch. It was really good to connect and revitalize some relationships with actual face-time. I also got the opportunity to have lunch with my mom all by myself.
my gorgeous, hard working mom -
loved her new office!
I know it sounds funny to go to such specific lengths, but I know how busy being a parent can be, or in my mom's case working and running a business. I just wanted each one to know how much I love them and appreciate their place in my life. In some cases, I wanted them to be more present in my life so I took the chance to reinforce that desire by spending one on one time. I don't know if they felt the things I was hoping they would, but I felt closer to all my family members when I left.
Well, that's it for tonight's post. One more to go! Keep with me people, I promise more fun things to come!
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