Brent’s parents spent their first visit here with us being very busy as there was a lot going on. We had an award ceremony, a college open house, graduation/party, and Mother’s Day. It was great to have them here and involved in everything, but it would have been nice to have one day to relax with them. I felt like we were almost dragging them around everywhere.
When they arrived in town, Brent and I had to leave them to head back to work. Luckily, Brent’s meeting did not go long, and I was getting off early for the awards ceremony. Brent came home catching his mom taking a nap and his dad upstairs. They were able to relax for a moment and then Brent started dragging them around town. They swung by my work place to see the huge office window and then headed up on campus where I would meet up with them. The awards ceremony was over and we were going to go to dinner, but the wait was too long. We went to Coldstone Ice Cream instead. (We had eaten several appetizers at the banquet and really did not need any more dinner). Then it was off to home to chat for a little while and then to bed.
The next morning came, Brent and I began our mornings as usual not sure when his parents would wake. Since they had drove the last couple of days, we did not want to disturb them if they were still sleeping. They eventually made it down around 7:20, almost an hour after Brent and I. Brent was making this amazing puffed pancake until he realized he switched the sugar and salt around. It was not very tasty. I did not have time to eat the knew one, so I went ahead and ate something else. He was able to make a new batch for the parents and they enjoyed! I headed off to work and debated whether or not I had enough vacation hours to get the afternoon off. I finally decided yes as I wanted to spend more time with my in-laws. I headed home to a nice lunch that was ready for me when I walked through the door. Then it was off to campus again for the college open house. We chatted with a few professors that were sad to see Brent go and we made our way home. Brent’s parents went off to run some errands, and we headed out for our ten mile run as we did not want to wake up around 4:30ish to make it to graduation on time for Saturday. Our run was very successful. We quickly changed and headed out to my parents house for dinner. After dinner we played some dominoes. Then we drove home to get some sleep for the busy day to come.
Saturday morning came all too quick as I did not sleep very well. We made our way up on campus to the ceremony which only lasted two hours. I was excited to finally see Brent (and Krista) graduate! Only two and a half years after me. : ) When we came outside, it was raining which was a nice change from the snow. It eventually lightened up in time for the graduation party which lasted from about 1:00pm to 5:30pm. Then I sat there debating whether or not to make dinner, but we decided that the restaurants would be too busy, so I made my planned dinner anyways. It had been a long day and I did not want to spend more time in the kitchen, but from out of no where, I got my energy back. I made a tasty green chicken curry Thai style with my second mother. It was fun to cook in my kitchen with her as I have finally started to do that back with her in Dufur. In between the waiting for the food to cook, we made some over night dinner rolls for Mother’s day. My rolls were almost half the size of the ones that she was making. I think we were having too much fun in the kitchen.
After a restful night of sleep, we woke up to start the busyness all over again. We made our way to church as we had a special Mother’s day service. Brent lead the youth group worship band and I helped the rest of the youth with greeting and the offering. They ran the entire church service minus the preaching. It was a great time getting the youth involved. We are looking forward to more youth Sundays. Brent’s parents sat in on Sunday school which was during the band practice before the service started. After church, we headed home as I needed to get started on lunch. Brent helped me with several things in the kitchen as the moms were not allowed to step one foot in there. Lunch finally came and went. We were able to take a few moments to sit around and chat until the rest of the crew left. Then Brent, his parents, and I took some naps as the few busy days were starting to take their toll. Then Mom Powell was given a few different options for dinner and she made the excellent choice of The Garage. We headed out to dinner, went on a quick drive to show them around Bozeman, came home chatted a bit more, and then headed off to bed as they had a long drive ahead of them in the morning.
Morning came and we had to say our goodbyes. Always sad as we wish we could have had a little more time with them here. We are blessed for the time we did get to spend with them. I was especially excited as we got to spend it here in Bozeman! It is fun showing those you love where you live and the things about it that you enjoy. We look forward to the next time they join us here.