Friday November 14 was the day that the rest of the family was to arrive. Grandma had the day off but grandpa still had to go to work. We tried to keep the kids busy at the house, but they were antsy for something to do. Auntie Torry and Grandma went on errands and so Scott and I loaded the kids in the car and headed to grandpa’s work. He works for a tractor company (Case) and so we went and had the grand tour of all the tractors and what they do and how they do it. The kids were enthralled and asked grandpa lots of questions. They got to play and climb on the tractors too.
We knew it was time to go when Afton turned on a tractor that had the keys in the ignition. As soon as we were leaving we got a call that everyone else had headed down to the local Wal Mart. A pretty big thing for Brawley since it’s known for its small size and lack of shopping. It was VERY nice. It was a super Wal Mart and had some VERY good prices. We tried to kill more time in there, but we had kids melting faster than the ice cubes on the sidewalk so we left and took our time getting home hoping kids would fall asleep. After arriving at the house we ate lunch and relaxed a bit. The kids swam again (seriously crazy kids!!).
Dean and Ally showed up, that was fun to see them again. Then Jacob and Maranda and boys arrived. We had a great dinner of Navajo tacos. After that, all who wanted to headed to the Bell game.
A big high school football game between Brawley and El Centro. It’s been a rival that has gone on for years. The Thompson brother’s were excited to attend. I stayed back with my three youngest and got them to bed. We had the kitchen cleaned and the rest of the night ahead of us. Louis and Alix came back early. I got Alix to bed pretty quick (she was exhausted) and so Louis, Torry and I played phase 10 till everyone else came home. Once everyone else came home we spent time just talking and enjoying each other’s company. Finally we all decided we’d better get some sleep so that we could be bright and smiley for pictures in the morning!
Saturday was family picture day. It went well, considering we had 23 people in the picture, 10 of which were kids. We did some pictures at a park and then more in a field with a tractor. Both lovely sites but the tractor was much more fun for the kids!
After pictures and a quick lunch we all divided. Grandma, grandpa and Maranda stayed home with kids (3 of which were mine, THANKS). Dean, Ally and Jacob went golfing and the rest of us went shooting. We had been planning the shooting thing for weeks and once it finally arrived it was too good to be true.
The artillery:
– AR-15 (a civilian version of an M16 assault rifle)
– bolt-action .22LR
– semi-auto .22LR
– Crosman BB gun
– 12 Guage semi-auto shotgun
– .25 pistol
– .40 pistol
– 9mm pistol
I think everyone got a chance to shoot everything in the arsenal at least once. It was pretty fun.
I had been shooting once before. When I was in high school a friend of mine, Shondra, asked me if I wanted to go out in the desert with her and her dad and go shooting. So I did. I remember enjoying it very much. Sometime between then and now I got a little leerie of guns. However, when it was suggested we go shooting while in Brawley I was all for it. Boy am I glad we went. It was so much fun.
We even threw clay pigeons. I was not able to hit one, but I tried a few times. Kevin was dead on pretty much every time. It was amazing to see him hit those things. The kids had fun too. Jaime, Alix and Milo all took multiple turns firing off the heavy artillery.
We spent just a little too much time having fun and Keri was NOT happy back at the house. By the time I got back everyone was glad to see me. But I was really grateful for the opportunity to go out and have fun and not have to worry about my little ones. It’s a rare moment in my life! We had a great dinner of carne asada burritos. We had a birthday party for Niah, Lexy and Jacob. I put all my kids to bed. I then put myself to bed. The others stayed up late playing card games, laughing and talking. I was sad I missed it, but I wanted to be well slept for church the next morning.
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