All things family-related. My husband and me, the children we made, the grandbebes that thrill us now. Our whole great big, loud, messy family. Love! *sigh…
“Cooks up to 65 hamburgers or 126 hotdogs at once: offers 1001 square inches of grilling space with 2 hinged covers that open to reveal over 1000 square inches of side shelf space for food prep, storage and serving.”
Yes, folks. That’s right. The kids got Dave an event grill for Father’s Day because the top-of-the-line grills at Target and WalMart just were not big enough in his mind. No, this one is more than 7 feet long and has 8 burners, because…? They actually have online forums for the owners of these babies. Yikes!
A Late Father’s Day
Because of travel and crazy schedules, we postponed Father’s Day by a week. It was also cool because it was in the middle of our reunion so my sibs and I got to tell dad we love him and give him a framed print we’d taken at church that morning and Elise and Corbin wrote my brother Joe a poem and basically: we just honored all the dads there!
Even I was surprised that they did it, as I thought they’d decided on something else. And Dave and I had truly been shopping for a new grill before the reunion.
Let me just tell you, in case you are getting any ideas, Dave has added addditional lockage to our gate so his “cadillac of grills” doesn’t go rolling out on its nice wheeled stand. He thinks everyone will covet.
He hauled it out and built it for 4th-of-July grilling and at just the moment it was time to grill the marinated chicken tenders, steaks, burgers, all-beef hot dogs, cheese brats and chicken and pineapple kabobs (can you say overkill?), we got a major downpour. I looked through my kitchen window to see a forlorn Dave unhurling the umbrella so his grill wouldn’t get wet. Hilarious!
Everybody ate their fill and left the fridge stocked with enough cooked meats to get us through the week.
Kiddos – you blessed your dad! Bring the meat and come for dinner!…Mom
NOTE TO SELF: All meals on Dave’s grill for the rest of the summer…this is a good thing!
Me with my two younger brothers, Joe and Dan…and their amazing wives, my sisters Robin and Dawn!
We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up ev’rybody and sing
The Other Sister
The sister I grew up with, aka the sister born into my family (as opposed to marrying one of the brothers), aka Tamera Dawn, aka “Tami.” She is the bottle of bubbles at the party, the the whipped cream and the cherry on top of family gatherings. She is the adored Aunt Tami, my little sister, and her husband, Uncle Gerron-the great one.
Everybody can see we’re together
As we walk on by
(FLY!) and we fly just like birds of a feather
I won’t tell no lie
(ALL!) all of the people around us they say
Can they be that close
Just let me state for the record
We’re giving love in a family dose
Joe and Robin ~ married for 25 years this month!
We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up ev’rybody and sing
The golfers
Living life is fun and we’ve just begun
To get our share of the world’s delights
(HIGH!) high hopes we have for the future
And our goal’s in sight
(WE!) no we don’t get depressed
Here’s what we call our golden rule
Have faith in God and the things He’ll do
You won’t go wrong
This is our family truth
Yes. They are watching a bird play in a sprinkler puddle across the street.
We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up ev’rybody and sing
We gathered, we ate, we talked and sang and took pictures. We worshiped together as a family. We prayed for each other, we cried sometimes and laughed a lot. We ate some more. We splashed in the pool and sunned a little. We teased each other and told silly stories of affection. We ate some more. We golfed. We danced and celebrated Joe and Robin’s 25th anniversary. In short, we just hung out together~with love. It was Ross the Boss, Mrs. Moss and Jeanie, Joey, Timmy, Tami and Danny. Er, no…Tim didn’t make it… :[…sad face.
Previous posts about the Moslander family reunion:
The Moslanders Came to Denver & here is a glimpse of the time together…
pictured: At Mile High Flea Market ~ Jordan, the semi-pro football player; Uncle Gerron innocently shopping for the right pair of jeans; Aunt Tami with Jovan and Averi
pictured: me (what the heck with the hair??) and my mama; cousins Tara & Elise; Gerron and Dave, the bro-in-laws (some people think Tami and I married brothers becuz we both went for the hot Latino types)
pictured below: Elise with her daddy and my brother, Joe; Elise at the jeans shop, where unbeknownst to her, there was the inevitable Moslander-booty discussion happening; Tara and her Aunt Tami discussing tank tops
What on earth did we do?
We gathered, we ate, we Mile-Hi flea marketed, we cooked out at the farm (Stef and Wrex~ Thank-you so much for an unforgettable evening) and roped “cattle” and rode horses and played horseshoes. We bonfired and sang, we talked and talked and took pictures. We prayed. We cried sometimes and laughed a lot. We ate some more. Robin cookie-ed us silly! We shot off fireworks (which may or may not have been illegal from over the Wyoming state line) and BBs and air-soft pellets. Grandma (or great-grandma) Moslander whipped everybody’s butts in horseshoes at the age of 71-years-young! Seriously? If she would color her hair, you’d only think she was 54 by her activity-level. She also perfected her roping skills after the lesson from Cowboy Wrex. The woman kills! We ate some more. In short, we just hung out together.
pictured: Dawn and Dan and Grandpa Moslander relaxing; the little ones on the horses; praying before the big steak and corn on the cob and all the other delish food meal
pictured: Aunt Tami can truly talk to the animals!
pictured: a horse, of course; Tristan and Gemma riding; Rocky and Guini riding into the sunset
pictured: Grandpa Moslander reverted to his farm days as a kid and spent a lot of time feeding the mama goat and the albino calf
pictured: Aunt Tami with her new friend the horse; Guini and Hunter riding by; Grandma Moslander winning at horseshoes
pictured: Uncle Joe and Grandpa visiting between songs; the calf
Not Pictured:
The giant 3 1/2 foot snake that almost ran right over my feet! Yes. It was a giant!
Psalm 34.11 “Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.”
They began arriving at about 3 pm on Friday, by plane and by car. 6 o’clock there were more. 8:30 pm we increased. Then more and by 10:30 pm, as Dave and I stood outside in the backyard and looked back at our house, fully lit up and fairly burgeoning with the exuberant noise of love and hugs and kisses and “Oh, you’ve gotten taller,” and “This is Averi!?” and “I am so glad you could come,” we smiled. It was loud and it was sweet and we were so thankful to have everyone together for a few days.
pictured below: an impromtu baseball game in Nederland; horseback riding at the farm; my little sister talked me into some weird face; the nieces with Aunt Tami ~ Stephanie, Elise, Auntie, Tredessa, Jovan, Stormie, Tara
The family
I am the oldest of 5 children born to Ross and Norma Moslander. We are blessed to still have our parents with us. They came from Springfield, MO, where, for the second time, they are trying to ditch retirement and are looking for a pastorate. Anyone want a roomy house in Springfield? pictured: my dad with the 4 originals who were here at church on Sunday morning ~ Dan, Joe, me and Tami; both my parents with their grandchildren and great-grand-children in Nederland
My brother Joe and his wife, Robin, came, bringing Corbin-their-youngest with them, joining niece-Elise, who has resided with us here in Colorado for the past year and a half. Two of their kids couldn’t make it, but we were glad they came all the way from Aberdeen, SD, where their church just held a dedication for their new facilities. pictured: Robin talking to dad during the bonfire; Robin and Joe dancing in celebration of their 25th anniversary, the rest of us dancing, too; the fam ~ Joe and Robin with Corbin and Elise
Tim and his family from Butte didn’t make it this year and we were very sad about that, but we plan to make him really sorry by super-imposing him into photos from some old 1970s pics we have of him. That’ll teach him. Hehehehe…evil laughing.
My sister, Tami, so energetic and lively, and her husband came from Corbin, Kentucky (youth pastors by day). Gerron-the-husband fancies himself “the great one.” They are adored by the nieces and nephews and are both natural born animal-whisperers. pictured: T & G at the Mile High Flea Market; later that day at the farm, charming the animals
My youngest brother, Dan and his wife Dawn (we have known her since she was 14 years old!) got to come from Hobart, IN (very near Chicago) and brought 2 of their 3 handsome sons, a beautiful family. pictured: Dawn and Dan on the patio one fine summer evening; Dan and Dawn’s youngest son, Austin, Joe and Robin’s son, Corbin, and Dan and Dawn’s firstborn, Jordan (a semi-pro football player) at the flea market.
How we spent the time…
We gathered, we ate, we Mile-Hi flea marketed, we cooked out at the farm (Stef and Wrex? Thank-you so much for an unforgettable evening) and roped “cattle” and rode horses and played horseshoes. We bonfired and sang, we talked and talked and took pictures. We worshiped at church together and on the patio as a family. Dad told how we got our spiritual start, about his salvation and baptism of the Holy Spirit. He preached it up. We prayed for each other, we cried sometimes and laughed a lot. We ate some more. Robin cookie-ed us silly! She brought vats of her unbelievably-delicious cookies (peanut butter, chocolate chip, monster, and oatmeal raisin) omygosh – truly, Mrs, Fields – watch out! We celebrated Father’s Day late and floated down the Platte River (how are there no pictures of this??!?…especially of Corbin trying to float on a shark and it nearly taking him under as he tried to swim to shore!? Hahaha!). We splashed in the pool and sunned a little. We shot off fireworks (which may or may not have been illegal from over the Wyoming state line) and BBs and air-soft pellets. We ate some more. We golfed. Some of us (*ahem) did all-night video game parties at Rocky and Jovan’s. We took a picture on what is affectionately known to us as “Moslander Mountain” up Boulder Canyon (since we photographed ourselves there on our very first reunion in 1995). We picnicked in Nederland and played wiffle ball. Did I mention there was food? We came back down the mountain and celebrated Joe and Robin’s 25th anniversary with a dance (how did Dan get so good at that Cha Cha Slide number?…Is it because he is a high school teacher??). There was coffee in the shade on delectibly cool mornings and rhubarb dessert everyone wants the recipe for (Stormie!). In short, we just hung out together.
Could it be any sweeter?
The weather was positively perfect: sunny all day, but not unbearably hot. Sweet summer evenings outside. God even held the mosquitos at bay for us. It was seriously perfect. All the time. And romantic lights twinkling around the yard. It was like, for these precious few days, we were all there, together, safe and secure and all was right with the world.
My kiddos
I am so thankful that my children not only choose to participate in the Moslander-Family-Reunions, but they are catalysts for them. They want them to keep happening. They plan for them. They help me with them. They love to spend time with their grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins. They participate in every way (even though it can be hard with young ‘uns), and help with the food and just generally make me so very proud to call them my kids.
The party is over
Wednesday afternoon at about 3:00, 5 days after it all began, mom and dad, who’d been the first to arrive, were the last to leave. And my heart is full of together memories, for the moments we shared. We’ll do it again in 2010 and much will have changed, but the love in my heart for these people will remain…pictured: mom and dad with Elise and with Tara and Hunter on the “good-bye” porch; and below in the yard with the sign and appropriately sad faces
I miss them already…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: Am I blessed with a godly heritage, or what??
pictured: DP praying with people after a break-out session
They so graciously allowed us (Dave, Tara and Hunter, Tredessa, Luke and his wife and son, and Kyle and myself, along with the techno kings) to attend, hang out backstage and ask questions of their leadership. Their generous sharing of insight and wisdom is a priceless blessing to us.
pictured: Dess and Hunter and me; TP + DP; Tre and her “birthday man”; Hunter and Kyle.
Kentucky was wet, very wet…and muddy (we don’t get much mud here), but very lush and beautiful, too. There is great community there and really good food! I had lunch across the table from Shane Claiborne, and just a few tables away from Delirious (although Dave and Tara actually got to “hang” with Martin Smith while Hunter played games on Martin’s phone), enjoyed some awesome worship at the New Song Cafe with Brenton Brown. Skillet did a killer show (pictured below, right). Israel Houghton is the all-new Andrae, incredible show and back-up dancer/singers! Seriously, when I get to heaven, I better be able to dance like that!
One of the great highlights was Kyle and me facing backwards in the golf cart (Tre was riding shotgun) hanging on for dear life while Alpha-2 madly drove the hills explaining security measures to us. Everyone he busted gave Kyle and me the looks. It was like an hour on your favorite carnival ride. Hilarious!
pictured: Tim, John and Dj DC (the rest of our Coloradan constituency) at the techno stage where the party continued until the wee hours…; Dave and Tara and Hunter with Jenn, Stevie (youth pastors at the big Alliance church in Lexington, where DP & TP did ministry on Sunday morning following Ichthus) and their daughter
And unless we end up promoting Delirious in October here in Colorado (which is still on the possibility-table), I got to see them perform as a band for my very last time and they are just.so.stinking.cool. I L O V E Delirious! They changed everything in the mid-90s, everything! They were the final main stage show, a great end to a great festival. I felt very hippie-ish and Jesus-people-early-70’s-ish. (I wrote about Explo ’72 last summer) I was that sweaty and dirty, too.
We stayed in a town home on the Asbury campus and daily passed this house with a “garden” in the gutters. My hair was fuzzy-crap the entire time. Hunter ran himself (and maybe his mommy) totally ragged. We celebrated Tredessa’s birthday there, walked a lot, slept little, ate lots of funnel cakes and onion blossoms and had a pretty great time, all in all.
Our thanks to the kindness and hospitality of Jeff James and everybody at Ichthus. We have so much gratitude for getting to learn from the best!
My mom and dad are arriving late afternoon! Yaaaaaaaay! Oh, and my brother, Joe, and his amazing wife and their youngest, and my sister, Tami, and her man and my youngest brother, Dan, and his beautiful wife and 2 of their “boys” they are coming, too! However, Zach flew back to Montana to hang with my brother Tim and his mom and brothers, who, boohoo, can’t come. It is kind of our Moslander-family reunion.
So we will increase, for the next few days, from the usual 17, minus 1, plus 11. 17-1+11=27.
But we also get to really initiate Stef and Wrex into the fam!
Ah, the family.
My mom used to sign the Christmas cards: Love, Ross the Boss, Mrs. Moss and all the Little Landers. So, it is that bunch, plus our lovers and the fruit of our love. And some of our fruit have now married and produced a new crop, if you know what I mean.
Rocky went camping with his brother-in-law a few weeks ago (Jovan’s sister, Jessica’s husband, Matt). After dark, by the light of the fire, he waxed romantic for Jovan, who was home with Averi. So he started carving a stick to say, “I love Jovan.” Thoughtful, yes?
However, as he was nearing its’ completion, just as he bore into the wood, which by now carried the sentiment, “I love Jova…” on the downward stroke of the “A,” he stabbed himself. He stabbed himself really deeply.
Getting stabbed
There was blood, lots of blood. Thankfully, he admitted what happened to Matt instead of hiding it pridefully, which he was tempted to do and they were able to take care of it until he could get back to safety and a hospital. We can laugh about it now, but I saw the poor guy barely able to move the next day and it made me wince.
I think, though, for the sake of the romantic points it must surely have gotten him, it was probably worth it.
Video
The video is a song he put together for the church staff, who love teasing him about it, about his stabbing adventure. He’s just silly. And sweet. I love the kid (and his girls).
It was family-party-celebration-time for Dave (DP) as soon as we got home Ichthus Festival in Kentucky.
He L-O-V-E-S sushi like crazy! But not everyone in the family has been wooed to the sushi-side. So, we got sushi for the fishy of us and then made a bunch of other sushi-looking stuff (very odd combinations! ~ turkey and cheese wraps, tortilla roll-ups, egg rolls cut, etc) and made everyone eat them with chopsticks, wasabi peas and dipping sauces! Throw in some Asian BBQ pork spare ribs and voila! The weirdest meal we may ever have had. All in Dave’s honor.
Yeah, we are that bourgeois.
His “cake,” instead of his traditonal Rice Krispie Treats with a side of Peachie rings each year (that is DP, for ya!), was a giant chocolate chip cookie along with a super-fresh batch of niece-Elise’s incredible chocolate chip cookies and ice cream. Can you count all 28 crazy candles?
Dave and Tara. See those kind faces? It’s because they really are. Hunter and Gavin and the chopsticks. See those ornery faces? They are that and my heart-fillers, too!
Whew! We have just completed 9 family birthdays in less than 3 months. We have a slight reprieve until late July and then we crank up again for the fall season! But how can I not mark the dates and celebrate these people? I praise God for them! O yes, I do!
I painted white numbers, 1 – 5, on the black breakfast bar stools the kids painted for me for Mother’s Day. I used 5 different fonts and blew them up to about 250 points, but then I decided to make them all about 4″ high and that seemed to actually disappate some of the uniqueness of the variety of fonts, but I still like ’em. I waxed them for protection (Minwax for Furniture – the old-fashioned way women used to do their furniture).
You’d think the grandkids would want to sit on them in the order of their birth, but you’d be wrong. Everyone wants the big numbers now.
All 5 of the little bebes came over Saturday night and filled the house with happy chaos. Averi had to go home at 10 o’clock, but the other four spent the night.
At exactly 6:03 a.m., they jumped on to the bed, surrounding me (maybe “swarming” is more accurate) and started saying “Wake up, Nonna! Wake up!” And, “It’s gonna be a great day! Wake up!” Hunter demonstrated for me how to wipe the sleep from my eyes by twisting my fists over them. They jumped and jumped until I agreed to get up.
We started with cereal as an appetizer, followed by cheesy scrambled eggs as the main dish. Poppa chose the cereal, but my grandbebes all love my eggs.
Somehow we were able to get them all presentable for church (almost had a disaster when Gemma, in her pretty pink polka-dot dress, got into a jar of Vicks…yikes!) and actually arrived on time!
“But from everlasting to everlasting, the LORD’S love is with those who fear Him, and His righteousness with their children’s children…” Psalm 103.17 NIV
Counting my blessings (as well as my breakfast-bar stools)…Jeanie
NOTE TO SELF: Re-surface that blasted breakfast bar!!!
