The Brothers Arrive

Our brothers, Scott and Rick, had found us a cute AirBB in the Bivins area of Amarillo which was close by our two sisters' homes and on the side of the town where we have lived as a family.

It was an older home that had been redone inside.  It had a big table and area to eat and play games.

There were three bedrooms, two with bathrooms attached and one hallway bathroom.

A L-shaped kitchen with all of the things you needed to cook meals.

I loved this door out to the back porch.

Lots of space to gather to talk and watch TV (which we didn't do much of when we were there--the watching TV part---there was lots and lots of talking.)

Thursday night,  Todd and Scott arrived together around 10:30.  And being the "older mature adults" that we were, we stayed up until after 1:00 talking that night, remembering being little, moving to Amarillo, trips, our grandparents, our parents, and all of the things you like to talk about with your siblings. 

Friday morning (Happy Birthday, Mike), Valerie, Todd, and Scott went with me on my morning walk to a nearby park.

Scott and Todd in an early morning football toss

The blue skies of Texas....

Found along our walk--I guess, Gary, we have a place to live if we move to Amarillo.

I don't think the doors and the trim are the right colors though.

Once Mike and Rick arrived and  Lynette came over--the partying began---

Rick found this "head" of Tana which is a stuffed item.  Apparently, it is a current thing in their family to hid it places.  Rick had retrieved it out of a couple of places before he left, but Tana had found a way to sneak into his treat bag.  We loved it.  Good job, Tana!

Valerie and Scott preparing a great salad for lunch.

I think this game was Taro or something like that!

And then a rousing game of Chronology.

We then headed to pick up Robin and go to western Amarillo for our sibling photo shoot.  I will post more pictures in a separate post as we had fun with this.  Here is a couple:

As you can see, the wind is blowing.  We are in Amarillo after all!

me, Robin, Valerie, and Lynette

Rick, Mike, Todd, and Scott

all of us from oldest to youngest.

Although we had tried to find someone who was available and willing to come and use our cameras to take some pictures that did not work out.  But being the clever people we are, we developed a work around--

The sign is located off of I-40 which goes east and west through Amarillo (and most of the rest of the country).  Lynette drove her car across the dirt to get closer to the sign.

And here is our "car" tripod.  Scott would start the timer and then make the run to the sign to join our group shots.  It worked fairly well and we had fun taking pictures.

Notice the sox my brother found and filled with dirt to hold the camera upright.

Our next stop was Cadillac Ranch.  Some person years ago began burying Cadillacs in the ground outside of Amarillo and now it is a famous stop for the area.  Google it and you too can learn about it.  It was just further west of the Amarillo sign, so we decided to swing by for old time sakes.

The first time I ever saw these years ago, there was some graffiti but now graffiti is encouraged and there are hundreds of layers of paint on these cars.  They call it an everchanging piece of art.  It was way too windy to spray paint when we were there although people were trying (and we were trying to avoid those people who were trying.)

I noticed our shadows as we were talking so....

got a shadow picture of the five of us that walked up to the cars.

The wind blown look----can't smile, bugs or dirt might be blown in.  :)

See the layers of paint!!

From that odd spot to a more serious stop---

We headed over to Llano Cemetery where our mother is buried.

the faded photograph is one that my brother Scott

left during a recent visit

I loved watching my brother, Todd, kneel down and pull the grass around the marker.

My dad picked this spot for his and mom"s "final resting spots" (although I don't think there is actually much resting in the Spirit World--too much work to be done.)  because there were train tracks just outside of the fence line--so you can hear them as they go by--

and there were roses for my mom as well.

Looking toward the spot from the roses to the west...

I believe that this is the first time that we have all gathered at this spot together since my mom passed away over 25 years ago.  I personally have only been here two or three times since then.  It was quite emotional and I stepped back for a moment to feel and reflect upon that time and on my mom.  These moments were made even more significant as we discussed that the next time we gather here together would likely be when our dad has passed away.  He is 87 years old at this point and we have no idea how much longer he may be on this earth.

That knowledge made this moment of gathering even more unique.  I am glad that we could be in this place in-between losing our mom and losing our dad. Looking at each of them facing their own emotions and their love for our parents was a sweet experience for me.

This gravestone was near by and I loved the words that are chiseled in the stone--

"Death is not extinguishing the Light

It is Putting out the Lamp Because

The Dawn has Come."

Tagore

How beautiful and perfect is that small quote?  What comfort and insight has that quote given to those who come to this spot to grieve and those who are passing by?

One last look and goodbye....

We then headed back to the house for ROGO--a traditional Giberson meal-- and more game playing!

And later, we had cake and ice cream for Mike's birthday which was this Friday and Todd's birthday which was on the Sunday.

Another VERY late night which was made later because I was sharing a room with Valerie and we were both leaving the next day!

Morning breakfast of sausage and pancakes!

Trying to find the right Saturday College Football games to watch--Texas, Texas State, BYU, and Texas Tech are the popular ones in our group!!  (Go, Cougars!)

My brother, Rick, drove this fun car to the party and I got to ride with him a bit on Friday.  Fun (although we kept the top up!)

This house was great, but it had a very very narrow driveway to the backyard where the parking was located.  Backing up was at least a two or three person job.

We had a little cat hanging around and saw these two bowls but no cat food.  Scott, always the compassionate animal person, bought some cat food and we fed the cat.  (Hopefully the owners were wanting a cat!)

Robin stayed home to recuperate after our late night, but we got some pictures of everyone else on the back porch before Lynette took Valerie and I to the airport around noon.

Apparently we all got the "blue shirt" memo expect Todd.  (Although maybe Scott's was grey)

And then Valerie and I flew to our separate homes while they all played games and watched football.  They also helped Lynette with some tasks around her house.  Mike headed home that evening and everyone else left after Church on Sunday.

It was so much fun and thank you ALL SO MUCH for making it work in your schedule.  I love you all in good times and in bad.  You have taught me so much by your lives and your love.  See you later, alligators!