Every few years Trish's family comes up from Texas to visit. The last couple times it's just been her sister Becky but this year everyone came. Even the elusive Becca and her boyfriend Greg from Louisiana that I've been sending a Christmas card to every year. She was so excited to meet the famous Val.
I had talked to Trish for weeks about the planning of this back yard family bash after we found out when everyone was going to be in Washington. I told her that we couldn't come up until Sunday because Ben was on call at JBLM. She was disappointed to hear that, but we were all hoping he didn't have to come in. We were planning to drive separate just in case. She asked me to bring an extra table, a few chairs, the banana bread, mac n cheese, ice, beans, ice cream, sugar cones, lemonade and the beverage dispenser. I made sure I had all of that loaded into the Escape.
That morning, we slept in a little bit and then started to get ready slowly. I had Ben help me get the table and chairs into the Escape, we ate a small breakfast and I got everything for the mac n cheese out. I had planned on making a baked mac n cheese, but I ruined the roux. It seized up on me. I was frustrated and just decided to make a pot of noodles, cheese, butter and milk and hoped that it turned out. I gave Ben a spoonful and he said it was good.
As we got everything ready to go, Ben got a phone call from JBLM and had to go in. Are you serious? They don't call you yesterday when you weren't doing anything and now you have to go in because we have something planned. Typical. I let Trish know that Ben will be joining us after he was done with whatever issue he had to go fix. We were hoping it was quick, so he didn't have to waste his day.
He headed out about the same time I did, after we put the food and other random things into the Escape. I wasn't sure how long it was going to take me to get to Bonney Lake, but I had to be there around 1. I was really hoping traffic didn't suck.
I got on the freeway and let Trish know I was on my way. She told me she would see me in a bit. Luckily, traffic wasn't terrible. I actually made pretty good time until I got to Bonney Lake. I think I had to stop at every single light until I got to the turn off, I wanted. I rolled into the neighborhood just after noon. There were a lot of vehicles parked in the driveway, so I had to figure out where I was going to park and bring stuff in.
I took the folding table and all the chairs around to the back yard with Amy's help, and then started bringing the food in. The first time I went inside Becca literally yelled from across the room, "VAL'S HERE!" She ran over to me from across the room and gave me a giant hug. Mind you, I've never met or talked to this person before in my life. From there, I met Ethan, Michelle, Matthew, Evan, Jadan and Greg.
I helped Trish with the rest of the food preparations, I put the ice cream in the freezer, made the lemonade and kept the mac n cheese warm in the oven. She got the grill going for burgers, I started the beans, we had to keep Amy and Ed out of the potato chips, or they would all get eaten before the food was done. Jean was out on the deck with Becca, Becky and Michelle visiting.
I found out we were also celebrating Evan's birthday that day. He was turning 6, so there were decorations all over the dining room. Trish said that she bought the wrong decorations and had to go to the Dollar Tree to get different ones. Trish also said never to bring Becca shopping with you because she has no quiet button and will embarrass you in public. We all laughed at her story. Trish also added that she took Becca and Greg to the weed store in Buckley, and they bought a giant container of weed to go through while they were here. Since they were from Louisiana, they don't sell recreational weed to the public like we do here.
As the food was getting done, we finished cutting up lettuce, tomatoes and onions and putting all the food on the table in an orderly fashion. Trish ended up putting the extra leaf in the table for a bigger table with more room. I rarely see the table that wide, but it was necessary for the amount of people that were over. I think this is also the most people I've ever seen at Trish's house since I've been coming around. Ben texted me that he was on his way to Bonney Lake and that the call he had to go on took way longer than it should have. I told him to be safe and we would see him when he got there.
A little bit later, Trish announced to everyone who all wanted cheese on their burger. Most everyone told her yes. I helped her get the cheese ready as she was putting the last few coats of BBQ sauce on the burgers. We let everyone know that the food was almost ready as we finished up everything. Ben showed up just as everyone was grabbing food. Everyone sat outside and ate except for Amy. We weren't sure why. Ben and I spent most of our time talking to Ethan. He was an interesting kid.
After we were done eating, we played a couple of card, dice and board games...I even got everyone to play a "tournament" of marbles. Ed really hated losing at that. Trish had bought a small kiddie pool for Evan and Jaden to wade in for a little while. I helped Trish put some stuff away to make room for a birthday party. We got everything all situated, sang and he blew out his candles. Trish served a piece of cake and an ice cream cone to everyone who wanted one.
A little while later you could tell the little kids needed a nap. Evan started acting up because his mom wouldn't let him pile rocks in Trish's lawn. He pouted for a while. We spent some more of our afternoon sharing stories, visiting and playing games outside. It was fun learning about people we've only had a Christmas card relationship with.
As it approached the evening, we helped Trish put the food away, the decorations and got the dining room in some sort of order, it was almost time for us to go home as well. Of course, when you're getting ready to go and have all the intentions of leaving, you get pulled in to talk some more. There were a bunch of pictures taken, hugs, people taking stuff out to their vehicles. etc.
We thanked Trish for hosting a great back yard party. You could tell she was tired but had a great time being able to hang out with family on her deck. She thanked me for bringing the extra tables and chairs, the food and the help. I told her anytime.
I gathered up the rest of our stuff and made sure it got in the Escape or the Edge. Ben left and I stayed longer than I wanted talking to Becca out in the driveway until about 10:15. Becca loves to talk! I told her I had to go because we worked the next day. She thanked me for a great time, and she said it was great to finally meet me. I told her likewise. She said she will see us at our wedding! I told her she sure will!
I got out of Bonney Lake and Puyallup and onto the I-5 in Tacoma. I still had to go check on Alicia's dogs, so I called Ben and told him what I was doing. He said to be safe. I let her dogs out, gave them some treats and put them back into the garage. Alicia was supposed to come home the next day fairly early. I didn't get home until almost 11:30. I got in a quick shower, and then went to bed since we had to work in the morning. Wow, what a day!
Next Adventure: Erika and Zacs Second Wedding with Family
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