Snow Blows

Well. Just like that fall is over and we’ve moved straight into winter. And I’m bitter. Fall is my favorite time of year. It’s time for being outside. Doing harvesty things – hay rack rides, pumpkin patch visits, planting mums, picking apples, camping, hiking, jumping in leaves. Not this year. We woke up Saturday morning with snow on the ground and still actively falling from the sky. What the WHAT!? Burrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!1

A Beautiful Day in Chicago

Let me first say that I love my girlfriends. They are a spontaneous, fun-loving group. When I emailed them waaaay back in March asking if they wanted to buy tickets to see U2 in Chicago (and BTW, I needed to know THAT DAY!) they all wrote back and said they were IN. So began our pilgrimage to see our favorite band exactly 17 years and one day from the day we saw them for the first time in Ames, IA.

In 1992 Kathryn, Megan and I participated in a lottery to get arm bands to line up to buy tickets to see U2 during their ZooTV tour. I don’t remember who actually got the best place in the line to purchase the tickets, but I’ll never forget walking back – no FLYING back – to Kathryn’s house with our tickets in hand.

Flash-forward 17 years and I’m happy to say we haven’t grown up a bit. Of course our little adventure to see a U2 show involved a few more details (husbands, children, jobs) but thanks to our wonderful husbands, children, jobs - and everyone else who helped make it possible (thank you grandma, grandpa, Uncle Zach and Aunt Stacy!!) – we all converged in downtown Chicago on Sept. 12 for what will be one of my most treasured girlfriend gathering memories.

Our time together was richly blessed. We all arrived safely. Met up effortlessly. The weather was perfect. The city was beautiful. And Chicago had a palatable buzz in the air because the BOYS were in TOWN! It was beyond cool.

After a crazy cab ride to a delectable lunch, a beautiful stroll back to our hotel along the Magnificent Mile and Grant Park, we hiked to Soldier Field. It was truly a pilgrimage. U2 fans of all ages were streaming towards the field, and everyone was friendly and excited about the show.

I was excited, but I didn’t have really high expectations. For me, the concert was about spending time with my girls. The last U2 concert was just OK, and I honestly thought it was because I’d grown up and moved on a bit. Well, as it turns out, I still have the heart of a 19 year old because when the show started I screamed, jumped up and down and swooned like a Jonas Brother’s fan.

What. A. Show. Seriously. It was magnificent. The stage was inspired, and really made the show for a stadium audience. The sound was amazing. And - much to my surprise – our seats were really quite good. We sat straight back from the stage, so our view was perfect and so was the sound. And the cute Irish opening band didn't hurt things a bit! : )

I’ll spare the details, but it was an out of body experience. Kathryn was there to pull me back down to earth as she’d reach over and put her arm around me and we’d sing out the lyrics to our favorite song together.

Kathryn and I have good U2 concert karma. Back to 1992 again, we decided that one viewing of ZooTV was NOT enough. So we bought some scalped tickets to see the show again in Kansas City. Long story short we ended up in the very first row of Arrowhead stadium (see pic at right) for what is still one of the most amazing nights of my life. Is that a little sad? I guess there’s nothing sad about doing something you love with the friends you love.

I wonder if anyone will be up for hitting the second leg of their 360 US tour . . .

BIG Family Fun

Labor Day weekend is the unofficial end of summer, but I think it’s also the unofficial time to hold family reunions. Both Dennis and my family held their respective reunions this past weekend, and it was really great.

The Brewer cousins’ reunion was held on Saturday in Johnson, Neb. It was a beautiful day held at a really beautiful park. We ate a lot and talked even more.

The next morning we headed to Cozad to celebrate my grandparents’ 70th wedding anniversary. Yep. Seventy years. It was definitely time for a party, and party we did.

My Aunt Myrna graciously hosted the gargantuan event at her home. My family knows how to procreate. Check out this pic.

The only bad thing about this weekend is that it made me wish that we lived closer to our cousins and their kids.

Is our children learning?

“Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?” George W Bush, Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000

And our country is up in arms when our current President wants to talk to school children about the importance of working hard, studying and staying in school?!

Incase your local school district decided our President's words were too controversial to be heard you can read Mr. Obama's remarks here - http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/

It's pretty subversive stuff - ask questions. Push yourself. Set goals. Don’t give up.

Yikes!

Thank goodness several parents had the sense to make certain their impressionable children didn't hear such offensive rhetoric.

Parents wouldn't want their children to have the opportunity to listen to a person who may share a different viewpoint than their own.

That, I'm terribly afraid (literally) would be un-American.

10 Years and Still Rockin'

Dennis and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on Friday. We have always talked about doing something BIG to mark this milestone, but with Dennis’ schedule at camp still being really busy (how did we ever manage an August wedding?!) we ended up spending the day together as a family at the Omaha Zoo.

It was a beautiful day, and there is more than enough to see. We all ended up getting pretty pooped out. I was the first to fade, but I had a good excuse. I had been up late the night before rocking out at a Green Day concert.

This was one of the best concerts I’ve been to. Billie Joe, the lead singer, would not let this audience act like a typical Midwestern audience. The minute he hit the state he yelled, “Get UP! You’re not watching TV!” and wouldn’t let up on the crowd until they were in a full-on punk-out frenzy. It was a beautiful site, and F-U-N.

I’m a little embarrassed to admit that my back hurt the next morning. It was quite a work out! Plus, I’m no spring chicken - although, I was far from the oldest person there. I saw people in the audience from 6 to 65. There were a couple dads with their sons sitting by me. It reminded me of going to concerts with my mom. She took Ellen and me to see Rick Springfield at the Nebraska state fair in 1982 when I was in 5th grade. I wish mom and Ellen could have been at the Green Day show with me. They both would have loved it.

It’ll be fun to take Addie to her first concert. Maybe that’s how we’ll celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary – but we’ll have to pick a band daddy would like too. Maybe the Indigo Girls will still be playing then!

After leaving the zoo, we went back to camp to drop off Dennis. We decided to pay a quick visit to Sonshine Chapel where we were married. It’s still as beautiful as it was then, and being married to Dennis has gotten more and more beautiful each year.

Ellen's boys

July has been FULL of wonderful fun with family and friends, but we had a very special treat in being able to spend time with John and the boys. John had a conference in MI and made an out-of-the-way detour to spend the weekend at our place. I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw how BIG are Jackson (nearly 8) and Parker (6)!

They are both such GOOD boys. Ellen would be so proud to see what a sweet, sincere, kind and affectionate boy Jackson is. He looks like her. He has her hands and her easy way of being with people. Ellen would be amazed to see her little baby boy, Parker, run, kick, climb and fearlessly try anything. Parker is smart. He's quiet, but his rivers run deep. He's a thinker - like his daddy. He sits back and assesses the situation then dives right in - but only if he feels like it. He's his own man. I totally dig that.

Ellen was never very cerebral, but she could work a room. I'd be the one hanging back while she'd charm everyone. After working her magic I'd ease out of the shadows. Jackson and Parker seem to have this same sort of thing working. It's so amazing to recognize that in their relationship as siblings.

Jackson said to us a couple times, "I really miss my momma", but he didn't seem sad. This was just a fact stated with the simple honesty of a child. I'd put my arms around him and say, "me too."

We'll always share that loss, but I hope I can also be a link to his mom and teach him all the stuff about her he may not have ever guessed - like she was an amazing dancer. She loved photography. She could sleep through anything. But her biggest legacy is how much she loved her boys and being a wife to John.

We Are Family

The week before the 4th my family gathered at the camp Dennis works - Carol Joy Holling - to celebrate Dad and Cynthia’s 20th wedding anniversary. It was such a wonderful time. Our only complaint was that John and the boys couldn’t be there, and that it ended too soon.

Dennis did a great job at keeping all of us entertained with all of the fun things at camp. We went on hayrack rides, kayaking, paddle boating, hiking and swimming. The highlight was the high ropes course and zip line. There’s nothing that brings a family closer than hanging from a rope 50 feet off the ground with your life literally in the hands of your loved ones as they hold the rope so you don’t plummet to the ground! (that's daddy up there!)

It still doesn’t seem possible that it’s been 20 years! The photo below shows it. David is a baby, and I'm currently almost as old as Cynthia was in that photo! Time has indeed passed, and it's been quite a journey.

My dad and Cynthia had what most would consider a whirlwind courtship lasting only a few months. They “dated” via hours on the telephone since she lived in Georgia. I still remember my dad and me fighting over the use of the phone because we both wanted to talk to our significant others.

The first time I met my new brothers and sister was a few days before the wedding. (Imagine!) I was a snarky 17 year old who was nobody’s fool and knew the drill. This was my dad’s third marriage, and I was less than enthusiastic with the timing.

“Can’t you just wait a year until I’m out of high school and at college,” I’d beg my dad. To a self-centered teenager that didn’t seem like a lot to ask, right? Well, I’m glad he didn’t wait. Despite all of the trials in blending two families I’m thankful I was a part of it all right from the start.

Our 20th anniversary celebration gave my brothers, sister and me the opportunity to share our memories of bringing our families together. It was fun to reflect on that first week when we all met.

David was the same age as Luke (the oldest grandson shown in the photo above with the flag) is now. I remember giving him a big hug the first time I met him. He later told me that completely freaked him out. Poor kid! I’m sure Ellen and I were hard to take for an 11 year old!

Lara was sweet right from the start. She said she was so excited to have sisters after spending the first 13 years of her life with only brothers. Her sincere delight showed. Even though she was 4 years my junior she was far more mature in welcoming me into her world. I’ll always be grateful to her for that.

Then there was Chris who was so handsome he made my head spin (sorry, Chris!). But right from the start he was just great fun and easy to hang out with. Plus he had a cool best friend who had a REALLY fast car (sorry, daddy), so Chris was, “like totally cool,” even for me, who thought she was “all that,” and supposedly hard to impress.

We sat in the camper swapping these stories and laughing until we had tears running down our faces. It will be one of my most treasured memories.

Another great memory will be singing dad and Cynthia’s wedding song to them the last night of our time together. Anna found the music and lyrics to the song, and we kids rehearsed on the sly. They were completely surprised. It was the perfect ending to the perfect celebration of what it means to become and be a family.