Wow... Crazy weekend.
My feet are ALWAYS itching to travel... as I don't get many opportunities, I get pretty excited when a chance to go on any adventure comes.
On Monday, an opportunity did come and I was over-joyed.
Beth and Jeffrey (My sister and brother in-law.) asked if Jo and I could go to Seattle with them. The plan was that we would leave early Thursday morning spend the day shopping, etc with Beth while Jeffrey did a job. Then spend the night at a hotel ( I absolutely LOVE hotels... Weird, I know!) and come home late on Friday!
On Tuesday I was still excited for our adventure to Seattle... but late that night we received tragic news. Our cousin's four month old baby had died . We had known that she was in the hospital through the week and had been praying for her, but the news shocked us beyond words.
Little Annika
Having a five month old niece showed all of us the reality of how much love goes into that baby. The loss is incredible.
Needless to say, we started planning for the trip to Calgary for the funeral. We decided to go on with our Seattle trip but shorten it to one day...
Which means, we left at 5am on Thursday and came home at around 4am, Friday morning.
No... I did not stay awake like a good sister.... but I did plan on staying awake... that means something, right?
We still had a great "sister time" ( and baby!!!) shopping!
We then left for Calgary Friday morning... We rented a seven seat van (for the eight of us...) and settled down (Ha-ha...) for the eight hour drive.
Driving for the Soderberg clan is rather fun... we laugh, we sing, we listen to music... but then something crazy always happens.
The novelty wears off and suddenly the boys start acting like.... boys.
It gets rather hectic from there but eventually we get used to the noise or we try the "quiet game" approach (I really think they are getting kind of old for that one.).
The visit with our "Calgary family" was so hard but so good.
The Lord blessed the time as only He could!
I am blessed with such wonderful relatives... it's times like these that draw you closer together!
We returned home midnight last night.
A few funny things that happened on this trip...
On Saturday night we went to an amazing Chinese restaurant with all of the family. When we had finished dinner Marian walked up to the table where mom and dad were sitting....
She went up to "dad" put her arm around him and whispered in his ear that she was ready to go.
You can only imagine her surprise when a man who most definitely was NOT my dad looked up at her. She was feeling quite embarrassed .....but it was cute.
Only a few minutes later, I (Who had not seen these happenings...), walked up and put MY arm around "Dad!"
Mom was sitting there looking at me a wee bit strange but not saying anything. When I turned to see a man whom I had only just met a few hours before looking at me kind of funny.... I was way past embarrassed and it was NOT cute!! My heart literally jumped as my feet did the same.
Not only was this very nice older man most definitely not my dad... he didn't look the least bit like him.
I heard laughter and turned around to see dad walking towards his seat on the other side of mom.
It has been a while since I have sincerely wanted to dig a hole to hide myself, but I truly was desiring a shovel.
I kid you not that only a few minutes later, mom was startled when she started walking towards "dad" only to see this same gentleman...
Let me warn you now... do not ever where a gray suit when my dad is wearing one. And if you have a bald spot on your head... do not sit by my mom!
Another funny story... While in Calgary Marian saw an woman from India with all of her shawls, etc, on. She innocently asked mom, "Is that woman dressed up for Halloween?"
In Idaho you don't see all that many cultures...
The weekend was crazy... but it was also a blessing.
We were able to reconnect with family, remember the life of Annika, spend quality time squished in the car together, and eat... a TON!
This picture is really blurry, but it gives you the general idea of what it is like to drive with my brothers...
