Sew Many Joys
A Life of Family…Crafts…Joy…and LOVE
The Road is Long
Posted by on November 27, 2010
The road from Pennsylvania to Nebraska is L—O—N—G!
This past week we spent the week in Nebraska; first in Columbus and then in Ainsworth. It took us about 20-some hours to get there and every long and tiring hour was worth it! We stayed with our Aunt Charlotte who gave us a great time of family, rest and memory-making. The boys played with their favorite thing ‘ball’ all throughout the house and found ways to climb, laugh, talk and even kiss with Aunt Charlotte. The best was seeing my little Brenden warm right up to Aunt Charlotte!
We had the pleasure of going to The Family Museum in Iowa on the ride out there and the boys just were so in awe of just a few of the things there…a CAR, the LEGO table, and then the play food/store. Most of the children there ran from item to item, playing-manipulating-and then quickly moving on—even the younger aged kids, like Kaiden and Brenden were doing this same thing. My boys, I had to pry them off of the car so that they could see some other things!!! We had a blast there. It was well worth the few dollars and extra time. It was nice to spend the time with the boys as they played and laughed and explored their little people world.
Our time in Columbus was spent with Aunt Charlotte but also we had the chance to see ‘Aunt’ Carole again!! We’ve been praying for her and we’ve talked with the boys about her several times and so it was so sweet to spend the day and overnight with her. She’s sweet!
After a few days, we took the ‘plunge’ and traveled to Ainsworth! 🙂 Ainsworth is about 3.5 hours northwest of Columbus in an area called the SandHills (am I correct?) Anyway, this little rural town is where Joel’s Dad grew up and his Grandparents and some extended family still reside. It is the quaintest little town that always helps me to draw back to family and what’s important! We spent the time vising family and sharing in a Thanksgiving meal together (a day early). It seemed to me that the days went so quickly—well with all the eating we did! The evenings we spent back at the hotel room–sneaking from our room/suite to the adjoining room to play cards and games. There were so many laughs (and even a scare that ended with no damage and everyone well!)
I always leave Nebraska wishing for just a few more days – a few more days to slow down and savor life a little longer. This time I had the unique privilege of visiting the Coleman Ranch -The old farm where Joel remembers visiting his grandparents, when he was young! It no longer is used as a home, but the land is still being used for animals and possibly crops. But it was incredible to have the images of where the stories that Joel shares took place. I walked through the house just visualizing the beauty and quaintness of the house before it was left go.
We returned home as safely as we left. It was a joy to spend the time with our family. To learn more about each other-to make some irreplaceable memories and to help instill in us a sense of family and love for one another.
I talked an awful lot. I guess I was making up for the lack of posts in a few weeks! We’re gearing up for Christmas in our house. I had taken time to do some of that fun preparation work with the boys today and it meant the world to me-even if it meant taking an extra 30 minutes to do something! It was worth it.
~Niki
2 responses to “The Road is Long”
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Meet Niki
Sew Many Joys 
What great stories! And I love the pictures of the boys playing. Glad you had a fun and safe trip! 🙂
I loved hearing about your trip from your angle. I’m especially pleased that you could see charm in the old farmhouse in the condition it is now. I can tell you that it was a place of love and coziness. I didn’t think of it then, but someday, I’d like to walk through it with you and tell you what it was like when Larry and I were children growing up there. Here’s a couple of short stories–In the winter, we didn’t heat the bedrooms or, unless we had company, the living room, which then was separated from the dining room by a wall. That meant all our family activities took place in the dining room and kitchen–probably less space than we had in the motel! There was an old worn out couch in the dining room along the wall that is shared by the kitchen, and I remember all four of us would sit cozied up on that couch reading. (We didn’t have TV until I was a teenager.) Each of us would be absorbed in our own book or magazine, then someone would laugh or want to share an idea, and we’d all stop to listen and talk about whatever caught that person’s attention! At Christmas time, we even found room to get the tree in the living room either in the corner by the couch or in front of the window. We didn’t purchase or even cut down a whole tree (Our sandhills property didn’t really have extra ones.) Mom would go out and cut off several cedar branches and tie them together. On Christmas morning, Santa’s gift (singular) would be added to the family gifts (probably a total of 3-4 gifts) but that excited feeling in the pit of my stomach that I had in anticipation still defines Christmas for me. As birthdays and Christmases were really the only time we got new things that weren’t necessities, it was an exciting, miraculous time!