I returned home from my time with the Hopfers in Nashville. I am so grateful to Stacey for the airline tickets to get to spend some time with the family. She works hard as a substitute teacher & paid alot for the tickets. A sacrifice that I recognize & appreciate but only the tip of the love shown to me for over a week with them.
Richard came to pick me up from the airport with my trusty bag boys to get my luggage. Hugs from all immediately. Dallin has gotten so big that he can pick up my 45 lb bag off the conveyor belt without even the grunt I gave when I handed it over to the airline. lol
It is always good to see Richard but for some reason his unconditional love for me was a balm to my troubled heart. He never complains if I slow them down, cost them money, make them eat other than Chinese (it hate Chinese food), or even watch another dumb Law & Order show. He talks away to me & always reminds me how glad he is to have me there. Richard has a way of making you feel special... he is a great son to me. Mother's Day he fixed steaks & they were great.
The kids were so excited to see me and talked & hugged me all week. Parker likes to snuggle on the couch with me & I love snuggling back. I got to eat lunch with Parker at school twice - once just me & him. Parker reminds me of Dale so much when he does his homework...you have to keep bringing him back to the subject at hand. He gets this dreamy look on his face or starts tapping his pencil, making shapes with his papers. Just like Dale did & he is smart like his Uncle Dale too. We played alot of games, watched tv, & he and Gretchen played hooky one day & we went out to eat & to see "How to Train a Dragon". I miss Parker just thinking about him.
Dallin talks non-stop & as a preteen thinks I am way cooler than Mom & Dad because I do not punish him (ok I defend him too...I try to stay quiet honest I do). Dallin had fallen a couple of days before I arrived off of a climbing wall. The doctor said he had strained his thumb but it turned red & another trip to the doctor got the pushed the tissue under bone diagnosis. It spite of this he played in his 6th grade band concert & may I say he is a great trumpet player. I recognized all the songs before he told me the names while he practiced. Check pictures of the splinter that was the length of a toothpick & twice as thick as a toothpick that he pulled out of his hand. How can 2 x rays miss it? Grammer was not happy & neither was Stacey. Both Dallin & I look forward to his & Parker's visit this summer. They will come out & stay then we will drive them back to see Dallin receive the Priesthood & become a Deacon. I can not believe it has been 12 years since I waited outside the operating room for him. He still brings a smile to my face every time I see him.
Gretchen & Stacey were missing from the airport because she had gymnastic practice. She is an amazing gymnist & is always flipping, cartwheeling, back flips everywhere...outside, inside, practice - she loves it. I got to eat lunch with Gretchen at school one day. Gretchen, Parker & I played dolls (Parker is a good brother - lol), we ate snacks, watched the movie, ate lunch & played on the playground. I loved getting to go to Gretchen's practice & see how hard she worked. She is very girlie, loves to talk & says everything is good....I want her great attitude. She says she will be an only child when the boys come & she can hardly wait for them to leave. I fear she will not find that so great though.
My Stacey not only paid for my flight but hardly let me pay for anything. She made sure my worries about money were way in the background and that felt so good to have a worry free zone. She spoiled me rotten with feeding me my favorite foods, taking me shopping at my favorite places, taking me to my favorite sandwich shop in Franklin, she refused all jobs (they called several times) even though I told her I would be fine at home alone. We went to a fun stamping card making party with 10 of her friends & she paid for it without telling me. I loved it & her friends are so nice and said they had heard such nice things about me. I felt truly loved every minute of the visit. For Mother's Day, yes I know the airline tickets were my gift but I got the coolest photo book of all my family with comments that they had to say about me. It came with a typed page of the actucal quotes as some were too long for the book. The front is a picture of my Dad with all 9 of my grandchildren sitting on my couch. I have shown this book to everyone. I even took it to my poker game to show some of my friends there. They loved it & 2 cried.
Church was good & everyone was really nice & grateful the floods had started receding. Their ward members volunteered at the Baptist Church cleaning up the flood damage. It was Mother's Day & all the men that spoke remembered it, and the ward gave huge candy bars to all the women. Then after Relief Society the Bishop gave me a 2nd one to stop the Priests from eating them. haha! Their bishop sat with us during Dallin's band concert & he looks just like Scott Hamilton, the ice skater.
The time to leave came too soon, although by then I was really missing Mark. Stacey had to sub that day since I left that morning. Richard got the drop off duty and I enjoyed our visit in the car on the way to the airport. He unloaded my bag after offering to park & being turned down. It was only a few feet inside the airport to check in. This is when Richard did the sweetest thing. He gave me a hug & kiss ...not unusual for us, but he asked me if I had lunch money for the layover in Charlotte. It was so sweet that he thought of it and wanted to be sure I was not without money on the trip home. I told him I had money but it meant more than I could ever explain that he cared.
I love my Hopfers and Nashville.
Oh yeah! I went thru airport security with Tim McGraw. They sent us through a different line than the other people. He was so polite & apologized for taking so much time getting his boots back on.... I like a dummy said no problem grabbed my sandals and fled. At least I got to see him take his hat & boots off plus speak to me. Last time I saw Carrie Underwood but noticed her pretty dress & not her until the girl beside me squealed "its Carrie Underwood". People in Nashville just do not bother the stars like they do in Hollywood. They eat at the same sandwich shop in Franklin (a favorite of Miley Cyrus). Oh well my brush with fame was fleeting but my eternal love for my family goes on....
1 comment:
Glad you had such a nice trip! It is always fun to be with family! Sounds like you were treated like a queen!! ;)
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