It doesn’t happen very often but it happened this summer….my 3 children Lindsay, Tj and Jimmer were all together in our humble little home in Glens Falls, NY.  For a time one lived in Utah, one was in California and one lives in Colorado. It just never seemed to work out that we would all be in one place at the same…someone was always missing.  But this summer it happened.  They all came home with their respective families and loved ones, and for me, as they say, it was a little piece of Heaven.  Families all together enjoying the good and simple things of life.  There was alot of laughter, alot of eating, alot of playing in the backyard where my children spent most of their childhood years.  It was almost like time stood still and they never left.  But they did leave…. and came back with families and loved ones of their own.

Our daughter Lindsay and her husband Brent added 4 children to our family and Jimmer and his wife Whitney added little Wesley.  Tj added his wonderful girlfriend Dani. So our family has grown and they will continue on with the traditions and enjoyment of our backyard whenever they come to visit. It was a yard that everyone in the neighborhood used to come to play in and it was always ok by me.  The more kids that came the happier I was.  There is something about the sounds of children playing and laughing that is music to my ears. It is where Jimmer learned to play basketball with his brother TJ as his mentor.  Lindsay was more concerned about his welfare so it was a good mix of instruction, fun and supervision.  I just took it all in from my kitchen window.

During their stay we made the most of our time together.  We don’t have alot of room in our house but we were able to accommodate Lindsay and her 4 kids down in our finished off basement.  When her husband joined us later on in the week, they decided to stay in a nearby hotel so they had more sleeping room.  This house is full of love but not full of space and with that kind of humidity last week, the sleeping can be rough.

Unfortunately because of lack of space, it’s impossible for us all to stay in this little house, so Jimmer and his family stayed up at the Sagamore Hotel in Bolton Landing.  It’s about a 25 minute slow drive from here because of the windy road lined with hotels and private camps along the way.  It was a good week weatherwise if you could jump in a pool or a lake. The humidity was oppressive at times so we pretty much spent it by the pool during the day hours. We were Jimmer’s guests during his stay so we had access to anything that the Sagamore has to offer…..which is alot!  We swam, we boated, we jumped off the popular cliffs across from the Sagamore, we paddled boarded (well they did, not me) and we ate and ate.  Jimmer even managed to fit in a round of golf with his cousin John and good friend Robby.  They said it was spectacular early in the morning when it was cool and dry as they took in the amazing Adirondack scenery along the course.  Thank you Chris Doster for suggesting and offering it for them.  The Sagamore staff treats Jimmer and his family really well.  What a great place it is.

Unbeknownst to me, there was a camera crew that wanted to follow Jimmer home to get some footage of where he came from.  They have followed him throughout the year in Shanghai, to his home in Denver, and even to the TBT basketball tournament that Tj and Jimmer were recently involved in.  They are planning a documentary of a year in the life of Jimmer and his family.  The problem is I wasn’t aware that they were coming until a day or two before they came.  Wow!  My first thought was no no no…not again.  What can they show that hasn’t already been shown here?  I don’t have time to redo the whole house in 2 days. It needs to be painted.  It needs to be cleaned up. I need to put in a new rug.  I have to fix the mirror that fell down and on and on.  Anyone who knows me knows that I hate to be interviewed and hate to be on camera so it was a no for me.  Well the guys came and they were so nice and so respectful of what we wanted that I ended up giving in and I did actually get on camera.  Oh geesh!  It’s not going to be pretty but at least everyone will know that my kids do have a mother.  They filmed us all at dinner in a restaurant, they filmed around town in Glens Falls, they filmed the house, inside and outside, messes and all….but I hope one thing that they could capture and could feel in here is the warm spirit of God and the love we have for one another and anyone else that came through our doors.

Ok now actually at this minute, I am getting cold feet about me being on camera.  I am thinking that I may have to have them edit me out.  haha….so stay tuned.

There are 3 spots that we always have to hit when my family comes to town.  Angelina’s for their amazingly delicious pizza or any other Italian food, The Log Jam, and Martha’s ice cream place.  Angelina’s is owned by family friends so they are especially good to us whenever we go there.  We appreciate the Aunchman’s love and support to our family and give that right back to them.  The Log Jam is such a great place to eat and have the best waiter that you can ever ask for, Todd Howk.  He actually is a cousin to my husband and wow does he treat us good when we go there each time that we get together.  He is a good waiter to all, not just to us, I might add.  Then there is Martha’s.  It has been reviewed and visited by the Today show a few years back so it has some pretty good notoriety here in the Northeast.  It’s the place to be for your social and ice cream fixes.  It just doesn’t feel right to my kids to not visit those 3 places every time they come to town.  Now there is a new generation coming up in our family so they will enjoy those places for years to come I’m sure.

Everyone knows that when you plan a family vacation you get excited and anticipate it for months and months and then it comes….. and then it’s over in a flash.  Then you start thinking about all that you wanted to do and all the people you wanted to visit but it somehow didn’t get done.  It seems there is never enough time.  That’s how it went for us. There was so much action….kids playing, kids crying, alot of eating, messes, washing machine and dryer always running, wet towels everywhere, swimming and boating at the Sagamore, sprinkler going, water balloon fights, bubble making, zip line riding in the backyard, mosquito bites to attend to, sunscreen for all, nose wiping, diaper changing, chasing after kids that get away, magic marker artistry on the house, popsicles dripping …..did I mention eating eating eating?… and on and on.  Just as a side note…. Jimmer makes a mean guacamole dip.  I asked him how he learned how to make it and he gestured towards his wife Whitney.  She probably learned how to make it from her Mom.  Good stuff Jimmer!

You all know what I mean if you have families with kids. It can be a circus sometimes especially for the Moms and Dads….but what a fun circus for me!  My role has changed over the years as slowly I went from being a young Mom of 3 children to a Grandmom of 5 children.  I heard someone say one time that you have to gradually let go of being in control of your children and then when they have children of their own, you have to learn to sit back and be a spectator. Hopefully they have learned some good things from you that they will pass on to their children. Any grandparent knows that that’s not always easy to just be that spectator because you want to help and pass down some wisdom.  So sometimes we aren’t good at it…. but we try.  They learn it all as they go anyways.  “Experience is the best teacher,” as they say.

Jimmer was able to visit the Super Hooper Camp that is held every year at the Glens Falls school district to give some words of encouragement to the kids.  It is a camp that all 3 of my kids had attended when they were young so we think of it fondly. It means alot to Jimmer to go back there when he can because it’s where it all started in school.  He also was able to help out his brother Tj as he had his first basketball clinic under the name of “Contract Training.”  It was a success and it was so nice of Jimmer to help him out there too.  It was a family affair and we all helped out…. but it was Tj that planned it out. Can’t let a chance go by to thank the Ft. Edward school and their AD for providing them with the gym. Thank you James Cuyler too of course.

So Jimmer did what he could to accommodate the requests that he gets when he comes back and there were sure alot more people that he would have liked to have visited but as I said, time goes by so fast.  We are so blessed with good friends and people that have been so supportive of Jimmer and our family over the years.  We would have loved to have visited everyone but it just doesn’t happen that way unfortunately.  Days and nights just fly by and the next thing you know, it’s over.  Saturday was the perfect day for me….other than the fact that I had twinges of sadness because I knew they were leaving the next day.  So we all gathered here at our home after the Contract Training clinic and just enjoyed being together.  A couple of friends stopped by with their young daughter and my kid’s aunt and her son John were here too. We played in the backyard, had dinner together and for the grand finale….another stop at Martha’s ice cream place.  Can’t ask for a better ending.

I think before it began I was thinking of the day that it would be over and we would all have to say good-bye. My kids know that there will be tears (ok sobbing) from me when they leave.  It’s just the way it is and they expect it.  The next day after they all left, I went out in the back and looked around the yard.  It was just silent and I was feeling the void. There were a few leftover signs that they were here….popped water balloons, balls around the yard, the little ones artwork on the white board, a few stray mismatched socks…..luckily for me, our daughter Lindsay and her family moved to Rochester, NY from Utah so we get to visit them quite a bit now and also luckily for me, Tj has come back from California to stay for awhile with his girlfriend Dani until their next move.

But for almost 10 glorious days I had all 3 of my children here with their children. Our daughter Lindsay got to spend some time with Wesley, her first niece on our side of the family and Wesley got to meet her cousins for the first time on our side also. Like Jimmer said, it was important for him to bring his wife and little daughter back here to see where he grew up even though Wesley may not remember it this time.  Eventually she will.  He is proud of this little house and this little city because it’s has helped form him into the young man he has become.  I can say that about my other children Lindsay and Tj also.  They have all been many different places and have had many different experiences but they will never forget the experiences, love and relationships they built  at this little blue house on Ogden Street.  As I have joked and told people many times over the years, this house was suppose to be our starter house but now it looks like it’s going to be our finisher house too.

Thanks for stopping by everyone.

Update:  Jimmer has left for China to begin his season.  Tough for him to leave his family but we all are grateful for these opportunities and anticipation of what is to come.  Time goes by so fast that they will be together again before they know it.  They will meet in Houston and Whitney and Wesley will go over to China soon.

Until next time…..

Kay

PS.  Here are some pictures and video of our times together.