Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go....
That is almost our direct route to our Thanksgiving destination. Well that plus eight hours :) Brad's grandparents have a farm in KS that we go to each year for Thanksgiving. Although we would love to be able to host Thanksgiving at our house (mostly so I can do things my way....go figure:P) we are grateful for the opportunity to go each year. It adds perspective and for the time there takes you to another world. There is no cell phone service, Internet, garbage disposal, dishwasher, etc. There is one bathroom for nine people. You travel on a dirt road to the house and the closest town(ish) is around 10-15 minutes away. You are surrounded by fields and at night you fall asleep listening to the cattle and coyotes harmonize to sing you a lullaby. As I write this my nose goes up as it sounds terrible, but you know what....we love going. Anna has been counting the days til we were able to go. Months ago she was listing all things she loved about the farm.
This is the only time we are able to see his maternal grandparents and aunts and uncles. He has a sweet grandma who has Alzheimers and a grandpa who I've slowly come to like. We laugh at some of their quirks such as blaring the TV right before they take their afternoon naps or finding silverware in a cheese drawer. This trip I enjoyed seeing both my children go and hug Marjorie. It is fun to laugh at Bill's jokes and discover his humor. Marjorie and I make a great team with the dishes.
Across the road from the grandparents is one of Anna's favorite parts of the trip....Uncle Bob. She looks forward to hearing the door creak open to reveal he is there to do chores. This trip he taught her quite a few things. First, he taught her the different kinds of cows. Secondly, he helped her learn to drive. The first time he took her out he came back and commented that she needed a lot of work. By the time we left she had vastly improved. She drove Brad and I back on the 4-wheeler and kept a steady pace with the gas and kept a mostly straight line down the road. Lastly, he taught her the function of cattle. She fell in love with a cow named Petunia. She droned on about how you could tell which one was Petunia and how she could pet her. Well, Bob let is slip that Petunia was going to become steak. Anna didn't think that was such a great idea but they compromised with a deal that he would at least wait until after she left to sell off her beloved cow. That's life.... As much as she enjoys being around him, I think he enjoys being around her. One morning he walked in and called "Where's my Anna?". I'm so thankful that she has an opportunity to have these experiences.
Brad and I's favorite part is just being able to be around family. Some of my favorite things about this trip were getting to have a late night conversation with my bil, watching my children be in this environment, being able to help out even though the contributions were small, seeing positive things about people, and just getting away. I don't know how many more years we are going to get to go to the farm, but I am blessed for the times I have and look forward to the times that we have in the future.
