A Houseful of Well-wishers

houseful

hows-ful--noun

1.  as many as a house will accommodate: a houseful of weekend guests.

Boy did we have a houseful!

 When I was in high school there was an old phone booth near our school, and during Spirit Week a group up students decided to revive the old game of "How many Sammies (sophomores) can you stuff in a phone booth?"  In spite of my claustrophobic tendencies, I nervously allowed myself to be wedged into that box right along with the others.  I can't say for sure how many will fit because it was too long ago for my pea-sized memory, but I had a fun opportunity to recreate the game at my house yesterday.  We called it "How many Symonses can you fit in a medium-sized Symons house?" We added some complications to make it a little more fun, namely plates of food, teary huggers, squirming children, and an escaping dog.  The result?  We found we could fit about 80 and have a little room to spare---my bedroom and the bathrooms were mostly empty!  It was great to be able to see such a large group of people all there to say goodbye to Del's parents and wish them well as they leave on their mission. 

Del, Logan, Sharma, Del Sr., Heidi, Larene, Kelli, Jason

Jim and Carlene Kelley, Karen Epley, and the back of Del's head

Larene with her sisters, Karen and Leora

Chris's sweatshirt offers a nice label for our family.  Unfortunately, we didn't think to take the stuff off of the mantle, so Maren has a cat's tail popping out of her head! 

Jenny, Kaylie, and Logan Symons (and our family smiling over their shoulder)

Schwabs:  Brodie, Misty, Kelly, Dan, Misty's stepdaughter, Jericho, and Sierra

Ryan, Richard, Heidi, and Robert Higashi

My kitchen was packed, but here is a semi-calm picture of a few of us, including my dad looking stern in the back.

Kari, Jake, Maggie, and Jason Symons

Armstrongs, Back Row:  Neveah, Heidi, Hannah, Shiloh, Sharma, Clayton, Carson (Smith),  Front Row: Sadie, Malachai, Nate, Elijah, Lindsey (Smith), and Macee

 I am sure my in-laws will be terrific missionaries, and Ohio is lucky to have them.  They left early this morning, and the first thing Del said when he woke up is "I miss my parents already."  I do, too.

Great Neighbors....Priceless!

When you choose a home, you also choose a set of neighbors.  Many people find the ideal home and move in only to find that they didn't acquire the ideal neighbors!  When we moved into our new home 4 years ago, we really hit the jackpot!  No one could possibly have better neighbors than we do.  We have Bob and Kay Frossard on our left who love to babysit our pets and buy them nice Christmas presents each year.  They bring us beautiful fruits and vegetables every summer from their garden.  In return, if I take them a loaf of bread and jam or a plate of cinnamon rolls they rave about how wonderful it is and how good we are to them!  They are sweet and wonderful and we love them.

Then on the other side we have Gary and Carolyn (Broberg) Farris, who are amazing, too!  They love our kids and are constantly telling us how wonderful we are!  Who could complain about neighbors like that?  For Christmas they gave us a gift certificate to Ruby Tuesday so we could take the kids to dinner.  They are so good to us!

We had lots of fun!  The kids ordered enormous burgers that came with endless fries.  I had to wonder if the restaurant owners understood what "endless" means to teenagers, who are, as any parent knows, bottomless pits!  It doesn't matter if we have 2 pizzas or 20 for our family--the boys will ensure that it is all eaten! 

 

We only go out to dinner as a family a few times a year, so when we do it's a pretty special occasion.  Devin says it's because we are too embarrassed to take our ill-mannered children in public, but of course it is really the price tag.  Our fun night out cost us almost a week's worth of groceries, so we'll just keep it to special occasions!

We love our great neighbors!  They're priceless!