Saturday - August 5th
We have been having lots and lots of busy days lately. Alissa, Parker, and Brinley marched in the Wheat and Beat Days Parade in Garland this morning. This was the first year we ever went to that parade. I've always known about it, but haven't been, because something always seems to come up, keeping us from going. We couldn't miss it this year, though, because our children were in it. Alissa marched with the color guard and Parker and Brinley marched in front of them carrying the banner that announced the color guard and band. They all had fun. Alissa was a little frustrated with herself for a few mistakes she made. But I saw all of the girls messing up here and there, so I don't think she has anything to worry about. She was also embarrassed because she forgot to shave her legs this morning and her coach noticed and pointed it out in front of everybody. Another girl had forgotten also, so Alissa wasn't the only one who got called out on that one. Alissa was just really frustrated because she had tried so hard to make it so there was nothing for her to get called out on. She was panicky when I curled the bottom of her hair and not all of her hair. She said her coach told them to wear it completely straight or curly. She was afraid that straight with curls at the end would get her in trouble. It didn't. She looked really cute. The coach just wanted to make sure their hair was done nice.
Later in the day when Alissa watched the videos we recorded, she was disappointed because each time we recorded her, were the times she messed up. She said she didn't really well, except for a mess up at the beginning then again at the end. Roger and I had set up our seats at the beginning of the parade route, then after they passed, we packed up and drover around to the end of the route to pick them up. We got there before them, so we ran over to record them passing by again.
After the parade, we came home and relaxed for a little while, then packed up and headed to the Bone Family Reunion. We had a lot of fun. There was lots to do and it was really fun to visit with my cousins. I'm always really shy when I first get there, but once I convince myself to stop being shy and I start talking with my cousins, we have a lot of fun. My favorite part was playing volleyball. I used to dislike that when I was a kid, because I'm not very good and I felt like everybody was getting upset at me every time I missed it. I can enjoy it a lot more as an adult. I know it's a game and it is for fun, so I don't need to feel bad when I miss the ball. It was a lot of fun to get caught up , play games, and spend time together. I really do love family time.
I offered to get some food for Roger when I went to dish up my plate. He said he didn't know what he wanted, so I told him I would surprise him. While I was in line, I was trying to think of something funny or creative to surprise him with. I couldn't think of anything, but my sister Missy had an idea. She suggested hotdog on a hamburger bun or hamburger on a hotdog bun. So that's what I did. I fixed him a hamburger on a hotdog bun. Here's the picture of him enjoying it.
When I was getting our food. I had a hard time getting the ketchup and mustard to come out. Each time, I ended up squeezing them too hard and it made a mess. The first time, I ended up missing my plate completely and squirted it all over Parker's shoe. After that, I at least got it on my plate, but I was trying to get it on the buns. It was funny.
Kristy and her family were running late. They got here a little bit after we did. The parking lot was super crowded and it was really hard to find parking. We got lucky, because we saw a spot right away and just pulled into it. I almost made Roger back out and drive around until we see where everybody is meeting. But, right before we did that, Roger saw Shelley. We got out and asked her where they were all meeting. She pointed to where they were. I asked if we should drive over there, but she said we better not, because the parking lot is full. I was glad we listened. When Kristy got there, she called Linda to help her find a spot. Linda went to the parking lot and found a spot. She stood in it, while she tried to direct Kristy to it. But another car came and stopped right in front of it. The driver of that car refused to leave. They just kept staring down Linda to get her to move. Linda was frustrated and she moved. I thought it was funny, because I was sitting and visiting with my cousins Sherri and Terri and when Linda told us about it, they were like, "Where's the car? show us where it is. We should go do something to it. Like throw eggs at it or toilet paper it." That made me laugh. Of course, we didn't go and do anything. It was just a funny thought.
After we ate, Linda had some minute to win it games for us to play. I started out announcing it, but I wasn't really sure what we were doing and I felt kind of stupid. So, after the first game, I asked if there was anybody who was not so shy and awkward that would like to come and be the announcer and make things feel a little more fun. My cousin Travis stepped up. He did a much better job at it than I did. I liked that.
The games were fun, but they didn't last too long, because a couple people were leaving and we wanted to take a group photo of everybody together, before they left.
After the picture, we didn't end up going back to our games. We all started talking, then Roger and Alissa grabbed the volleyball and headed to the court. A bunch of us noticed and wanted to go play also. When I walked around the corner to join them though, I was surprised because they weren't at the court. They were gathered over by the water looking at something. I later found out, that they had started to play and Alissa hit the ball and it went into the water. They had to get creative to get it out. The water was gross and it had a warning sign telling people not to swim in it.
After they got the ball, a lot of us were ready to play. It was a lot of fun. The only problem was the ball ended up going into the water a few times.
This was the worst time that the ball went in the water. It went out there really far and we couldn't reach it. so, my cousin, Julie, climbed on a floaty toy and headed out to get it. It was so gross. I'm so glad she was went and did that. It was really funny to watch.
Alissa and I both took videos of her trying to get the ball. You can watch them by clicking on these links:
Alissa's video,
My video
My video is not as good as Alissa's. I used my picture camera to take mine, because I didn't want to walk over to get my phone. My picture camera had the zoom lense on, so it was hard to keep it still.
I asked Missy to take pictures of all the fun, while I played. She was really funny and took a bunch of pictures of me, pictures of our feet, a sock, and just some random things. At one point she gave the camera to Damen and told him what she had been doing, so he took over and continued doing the same thing. I think it is funny. Anyway, I 'm glad Damen was able to come. I had seen on Facebook that he was scheduled to work. Missy told him to trade shifts with someone. I'm guessing that's what he did, since he was there.
Kari couldn't make it though. He boyfriend, Justin's sister tried to commit suicide yesterday, so she is in the hospital. Missy said that it looked like she had taken a bunch of pills. They couldn't pump her stomach though, because by the time they found her, the pills had been in her system to long to be able to pump her stomach and get them out. She is in a coma and has not woken up yet. They don't know if she will and if she does, they have no idea how much damage has been done. I feel really bad for Kari having to deal with that. Hearing that someone you care about is so upset that they actually tried to kill themselves, is really hard. I think the hardest part would be to not feel guilty and blame yourself. You probably start thinking of all the things you wish you had done. Why didn't I realize this person was that upset? What could I have done differently? Why wasn't I a better friend? Stuff like that. I heard from somebody who has dealt with people who are suicidal and a person who has lost a lot of family members to suicide. And they say that, most people start acting happy and normal again, before they commit suicide. So, in most cases, friends and family are concerned, but then the person starts acting normal and happy again, so they think everything is going good and they stop feeling so worried. Then the person does it. The people I learned this from, believed that this happens because the person has made up their mind that they are finally going to do it and they feel happy about their decision, Because most of them feel that the world and everybody around them would be happier and better off if they were gone. So, it's almost like a weight off of their shoulders and they feel happy before they do it.
Sorry to get off my main subject with talk about suicide. I just think it is so sad. It is a very sad and difficult thing to deal with. I feel like there is so much that I don't understand about it. It also makes me feel bad, to think that so many of them actually feel everybody would be happier without them. So many people don't know their own worth. They just can't see it. It makes me think I need to work harder to help all the people around me, see and know how great and important they are to me.
Okay. Back to the fun. So, these are some of the pictures after Missy and Damen told me what they were doing.
On this google photos app, it gives suggestions for your pictures and videos. It sent a really funny suggested image to Roger. He thought it was funny, so he saved it and shared it with me.
This is it. in the one on the left, I was trying to look intimidating to the other team. Lol. I'm embarrassing!
Every time Missy took pictures of Mikal, he made funny faces at her, so there are some funny pictures of Mikal in here. I thought it was really funny as I was scrolling through the pictures. Everyone's playing the game and happy and smiling, then a picture of Mikal with that angry looking face would pop up. It made me laugh.
Here we are trying to save the ball from the water again.
This is my cousin, Sandy's little boy. He is so cute! He stayed on the side of the court for a lot of the game. He wanted his mom and dad.
For a little while, after we had lost the ball too many times in the water, Parker stood close to the water and watched for the ball so he could stop it from going in. But, eventually he got bored. He had brought some of his cars with him, so he grabbed his cars and played in the sand with some cousins.
I made some cute little slideshows of our fun times at the reunion. I need to figure out how I can post them on here, with out having a link to it. But until then, here are the videos. Just click on these links to watch them.
Bone Family Reunion 2017 Slideshow
Bone Family Reunion 2017 - Volleyball
The reunion was lots of fun. Our drive home, was not. Parker's tummy started to hurt. He thought he needed to throw up or that he was just getting car sick. Anyway, we asked all the kids to go to the bathroom before we left the park. Parker said he really did not have to go. So he sat in the truck and waited while we all went. Then, Roger stopped at the first town we passed, to get himself a soda. As soon as we left the town, Parker told us he had to go to the bathroom. We were frustrated, because he had just had 2 opportunities to go and he hadn't taken them. We didn't understand at the time, that he had an upset tummy and was just having a hard time knowing if he had to throw up or poop. Anyway, we found another place to stop and Parker went to the bathroom. He was in there for a while, but came out saying that he felt much better. Then as soon as we got back on the main highway and we were outside of that town, he told us he thought he needed to go again. So, we found another town to stop at. This time, we looked for a McDonald's, so we could go in, eat something, and relax while Parker was in the bathroom. We knew he needed more time to get it out of his system so we could make the drive home. He was in there for a really long time. When he came out, he was shaky and cold. He really wasn't feeling well. I think the biggest problem was that he was dehydrated. I got him to drink some water when we got back in the truck, then he fell asleep. So we were able to get home. He woke up, right before we took our exit, and told us he needed to use the bathroom again. Luckily, we were almost home. I used my phone to disarm our security system and have the door unlocked so he could just run in and make it to the bathroom on time. That's something I really love about our security system. We used to have to wait at the door, while everybody gathered their things. And it always seemed like the person with the keys was the last one to get to the door. It's nice to have a code on the door to unlock it or we just use our phones.
