Family Reunions are Amazing
Recently, we had the pleasure of all three of our children and all five of our grandchildren staying with us here at camp. Our son Jonathan is about to retire from the Air Force and now lives in Oklahoma so he had quite a long drive to get here. They stopped in Knife River first for a few days to spend some time with his wife, Reseth's parents, then came up here for a week.
Even though the weather was a bit on the cooler side with some rain in the mix, we still managed to have plenty of outdoor time to play together. That was a good thing because there are five active grand children who were eagerly looking forward to participating in a lot of fun activities up here.
Jonathan has three children, Aaron-12, Titus -10 and Evemarie-6. Our daughter Cherish who lives in Ely with her husband Patrick has two children, Judah-5 and Kaylee-2. Being that Jonathan has been in the Air Force for nearly 20 years, we have not been able to spend as much time with his family, so it was a real treat to have this time together. Little Kaylee was like the mascot and is talking more and more. All the kids adored her and competed for her attention and hugs from her.
The three boys all have big remote controlled cars and ripped and roared their cars around our parking lot and up and down our roads here. Jonathan was the activity director playing badminton and baseball with the kids, tubing with the boat in front of our resort, teaching his sons to ski, going fishing, relaxing on the pontoon boat, campfires roasting marshmallows, four wheeling and board games. Joanna brought the six 8 week old sled dog puppies down to our yard so the children could play with them. That was a treat.
One highlight was a surprise visit from Cherish's husband, Patrick. He has his own business called Rock Country Masonry in Ely, MN and does cement work, rock work, tiling, and hard landscaping. Being that the summer is his busy season, he was unable to accompany Cherish and the children for a 10 day visit with us. But he decided to come up for a surprise overnight visit on the weekend. No one knew about it but me because he called my phone to make sure he had the right directions to get here. I saw his truck drive in and up around the back way to our parking lot so no one else would see him. I said, "Hey everyone, I see that our other guest has finally arrived and you might want to come greet him because you know him." Cherish looked at me quizzically, like really? How would I know this guest?
Patrick got out of his truck and was heading toward our front steps as Cherish, Joanna and I came out our front door. We all three stopped on the deck just outside the door and I watched both their faces to see their reaction. Cherish was so stunned, she just stood there with a questioning look on her face. Her mind couldn't believe what her eyes were telling her. Joanna gasped with her mouth wide open. They both said , "Patrick!!!" Cherish then ran into her husband's arms for a big hug. Judah was on the lake in a boat when his Dad drove in. He recognized his Dad's company truck right away and calmly said to Jonathan, "My Dad is here." Jonathan knew he was mistaken and gently explained that wasn't possible. But then to his surprise, he realized Judah was indeed telling the truth. We packed in a lot of fun the two days Patrick was visiting so it seemed he was here for more than one night. I love surprises like that and appreciate Patrick's spontaneity.
Grandma and Grandpa Oberg and Aunt Joanna were ready for bed each night after all the interaction and activities of each day. It was a great time for the cousins to be together and brother and sisters. Family is so important and a gift from God. I would say everyone had a great time.
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