The Reason For Our Trip

On Saturday morning we got ready and headed into Phoenix.  The family was starting to arrive and we were taking Terry and Carol to lunch so Pam could do whatever she needed to without worrying about feeding them.  After lunch we went to Pam's where five more had arrived.  By dinner time the last three expected at the airport were on the ground including Tom and Jeanne, the Guests of Honor returning home from Mexico.  Their 60th wedding anniversary is this week.

Unfortunately their luggage didn't arrive with them.  It must have liked Cancun!

Pam fixed dinner and with the visitors and those that live in the area, there were 27 people aged 78 years to 11 months.  We had a great visit and I ate half a dozen imaginary meals fixed by Josie who has quite the imagination.  Her magic ingredient is "a pinch of salt."

With folks dealing with a 2 and 3 hour time difference, it wasn't long before everyone headed to their various accommodations at Tom's, Pam's, hotel or RV!

We were all attending Mass at their church at 9:30 Sunday morning.  We had a 40 minute drive so had to leave about 8:30 since parking and seating would be at a premium they said.  We ended up going to Tom's, leaving the truck and riding with Paul and Pam.  We ended up with two dozen people occupying three entire pews.  When Mass was finished Tom and Jeanne were invited to the front to be prayed over and blessed by the priest.  We were all invited to their friend, Barbara's, for a brunch immediately afterwards.  

Afterwards everyone took off in many directions and we rode back to Tom's where the truck was parked.  Before we left, however, we watched a DVD of the British vacation we took with Tom and Jeanne in May/June.  Then we drove back to the RV park.  We had a few hours so I got a white load of clothes together and we took it to the laundry.  We availed ourselves of the pool while it washed then I transferred it to a dryer and continued enjoying the pool until it dried.  After folding it all we returned to the RV, freshened up some, and drove to the Italian restaurant where we had about 30 people for dinner compliments of Tom. It was a delicious meal and we enjoyed our dinner companions of nephews Chris and Sean and is ter-in-law Erma.

Monday we started getting things ready for our Tuesday departure.  One of our lights needed attention which we fixed and we have a pinprick hole in the icemaker line.  Ted just turned it off and we will deal with it Tuesday before we leave.

A little after lunch we headed in to Tom's for a big Labor Day Anniversary Party.  Sean smoked two huge pork shoulders and two chickens that looked like small turkeys.  So many provided dishes that it was hard to keep track.  Many went swimming while others just visited.  After dinner we gave them their gifts and we watched a video their son put together.  It was a wonderful celebration.

Today we head east for home.  There will be trips to the airport today, tomorrow and Saturday as the family returns home after this wonderful celebration.