While we were in Wisconsin, Donny and I went to our first Don Shire concert. Donny liked the trumpet music and watched his grandpa playing almost as much as he looked at the stained glass windows. But when Grandpa played the shofar he was not okay with that!
Fortunately, he likes his Grandpa anyway! I really enjoyed the whole concert, except for the millions of flies that were buzzing around in this beautiful old Baptist church. Grammy took Donny out after the shofar incident so that Andy and I could enjoy the concert. It was good to finally get to experience my father in law's work. I especially enjoyed the hymns (he played two of my favorites: It Is Well With My Soul and The Old Rugged Cross) and his interpretation of what it will sound like when the trumpet sounds and the saints are called home. I got goose bumps just thinking about it!
Other highlights of the trip for me were bonding with Julie (Andy's sister), cuddling with my new neice, watching Donny "drive" the John Deere, dressing Donny like a lumberjack and eating breakfast at Paul Bunyan (they have no menus because they serve you family style with all you can eat platters of sausage, biscuits and gravy, flapjacks, eggs, french toast, OJ, hash browns, ham...), hanging out on the back patio and in the hot tub, trying to convice my nephew Michael that a butterfly net is not called a "hallway" and that his Culver's fish was not "blueberries" or "chicken," and watching the ever changing faces of my little boy.
Andy's highlights included his fishing trip with his dad and Zach (I'll let him tell you about that), cuddling with his new neice, watching the history channel in the den (we don't get expanded cable at our house and he's a history junkie), showing Donny and I around Silver Birch Ranch (the camp he grew up attending next to Sawyer Lake), teaching me to steer a canoe, and sampling his parent's cooking.
It was such a blessing to get to go to Wisconsin this summer. I needed the rest and the break from cell phone and computer, and came back from our trip rested and much more healed up than when I went. (Even with the long trip home routing us from Green Bay to Chicago to Dallas to Portland getting home after 1 a.m. Pacific time which suddenly felt like 3 a.m. to us) I wish Wisconsin was closer to the Northwest so we could go visit more often. I feel at home there and love spending time with the family. Thank you thank you thank you to Don and Kathy for using precious air miles to fly us out there first class. We couldn't have had a vacation this year without them!
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