However, that was no impediment to a lot of fun with the gang. Everything from sailing boats in the back yard
to digging out Laura and Ashley's wedding dress (they had employed the same one) with cousins,
to washing Grandpa's car on a sunny afternoon, which of course involved spraying Grandpa,
to enjoying the slides at Monkey Palace
and climbing high enough in the neighbor's magnolia to require oxygen.
Ashley kept the kids on schedule in their schooling, and even enrolled them in equestrian lessons, which they were taking as Phys Ed back in Tashkent. Ironically she got them in at the same stables where she had ridden as a teenager, having earned her own money to do so.
No one could keep clothes on Big Bill, aka Captain Underpants.
Brandon arrived from Tashkent in time to get over most of the jet lag before New Baby Elizabeth Sherwood arrived safely in the early morning hours of October 23, to the delight of all.
Despite the excitement of the new sister, life went on including the observance of such vital celebrations as Halloween, complete with costumes put together out of stuff in our play clothes bins. I'm not sure what the kid with the green face is supposed to be, and I'm not sure that he cares except for the candy.
The other set of grandparents drove from Missouri (!) for Joseph's baptism and Elizabeth's blessing, and two of my sisters (under the clock and in the blue shirt) also came down for the weekend.
No pictures were taken of the ensuing feast, as I was schlepping dishes and corralling grandkids.
As time went on, we took care of other things, like making a kid change the oil in the Miata,
and piercing the ears of the 11- and 13-year-old granddaughters, who had finally obtained permission from their dad. They also knew that Grandpa had xylocaine and clean needles.
New visas for Uzbekistan were needed, so I pulled out the camera and shot the pictures. OK, the image of the last kid in the lineup, Baby Elizabeth, could have been pulled from Google Images and no one would have been the wiser.
We got all the twelve grandkids to slow down long enough for a group picture, which won't happen again for a long while. Mike and Adrienne had come down from Delaware, bringing one-year-old Kate who tied with New Baby for Favorite Cousin to Hold and Play With.
And finally the end of twelve weeks came, more quickly than we would have liked. After one last poignantly sweet trip with Kathleen and Sophia to the mall for earrings and a butterfly necklace for Eleanor, we bid them all farewell the next day as they started their long trip back to Uzbekistan.
It was good to have them here for a while.
Family seems to become more important all the time.
Dave & Paula
