New York Trip

New York! We took a last minute surprise trip up north this past weekend. The trip had a couple different purposes...

A few weeks ago Brian was having his daily conversation with his bestie, Josh - who said "Hey, my Dad's 60th is coming up, why don't you come?" To which Brian said "Hahaha, no". Just too far to drive for something like that...

But then we were able to buy a ton of really nice KraftMaid cabinets from Dad B's store (Lowes) for $160!! (A massive discount). The only "problem" with that is that we had to go get them (for our kitchen remodel at the Willow house). As Brian was coordinating with his Dad on the best time to get the cabinets, he realized the timing would coordinate perfectly with the party.

So we kept our whereabouts off of social media so that we could surprise Josh by being at the party for his Dad. We actually coordinated with his wife to pick him up from the train station, as he was coming in from NYC. That was a really great surprise. Those two have an incredible bond, and in so many ways are exactly the same, and yet in so many others completely different. (If you don't know who I'm talking about, you can see him in Brian's birthday video here)

I was actually not planning to go, and just sending Brian and the kids, but it worked out for me last minute, due to a kind friend graciously taking Sonny & May for me.

#HockeyHair and #TheGingerBeardMan - they'll always be the best of friends. And they're lucky they know me - because I am great at assigning hair-based hashtags, am I not? :-D

So, we kinda had to squish. Brian brought his work truck so we could bring back the cabinets...but it was definitely a tight ride.

So we drove all day Thursday, the party was on Friday, a brunch (party related) on Saturday, and then driving home on Sunday. It felt a lot busier than it sounds, somehow:-)

The party was great - It was a wonderful reflection on a life lived well, and a man who is well loved by all. The story of his life is one of those "this will never end well" types - But then, God. It's like David against Goliath. The probable outcomes are not in your favour. But you can never disregard the magnitude of what God can do with willing hearts.

Their family (minus Debbie, their Mom...she was talking too much and didn't make the pic:-) Tracey, Glory, Dana, Jaime, Bob, Keely, Hannah and Josh

They are a very musical bunch. Josh wrote and sang a song for our wedding, which was one of the most special things ever! So naturally, the party was full of great music! Both Glory and Josh wrote songs for their Dad. They are both amazing - and I'll link them here. Josh's song is called I'll Give You Me, and is set to pictures of their family. Glory's I taped live, and unfortunately my memory card was too full, and I wasn't able to catch the whole thing. It was so beautiful though. You can watch & listen - you won't regret it.

Josh's song

Glory's song

So while in the mountains we had a little outdoor fun. Usually, when we go there, on our way to Toronto, Brian is not with us - having him there is significantly more fun:-)

So Daddy took the kids on a hike, and they took a few pictures:-) Apparently they were talking non-stop, so they didn't get to see any animals

 The Catskill mountains are very beautiful!

 When they got back, I asked Grey if they saw anything - and he said "Yes! We saw a golf course in nature!" A miracle, really:-)

They ended their hike by coming out on the main road, and there is the back hole of a nearby golf course there.

These city kids are hilarious - lacking any and all experience with "the wild". They learned how to cross a creek for the first time in their lives this weekend.

Daddy brought us by Shinglekill Falls - he used to jump off the falls into the water below - actually quite a bit bigger of a drop than it appears in the pics! Scary!

Crossing the very cold creek water!

Brian has moved MANY times in his life time. This was one house he lived in, in Coxsackie. We drove by when on our way to the Dufek family brunch. He pointed out where he used to play baseball and hockey (he lived here from 12 to 15 yrs old approx, he said)

Brian was snuggling Grey into bed on Saturday night, and Grey told him "This house is very broken and old" Oh really? "It has cracks everywhere" Haha!! We love the beautiful post and beam - but I guess Grey wasn't as impressed:-)

We had fun on our quick trip! Here's a video that is mostly only of interest to the kids, but the first few mins are fun - riding the "Chickabumps" and getting attacked by a large goose!