The Days of Runnells

Today the Runnells family gathered to celebrate Grandpa's 87th birthday, which was on Saturday Surrounded by his siblings, his children and his grandchildren, Grandpa seemed to enjoy his day.  I am thinking he will also enjoy his newly replenished supply of cashews, MGD, and licorice.

We decided to hold the party in the community room at Grandpa's new home, a place he confirmed he loves living at.  We ate lunch and listened to Xavier's piano playing, watched Grandpa open his gifts and enjoyed some birthday cake and ice cream.  Grandpa was a real champ -- he gave a birthday speech and blew out his candles, all of them, in one try.

It was a perfectly wonderful Sunday with the sun shining, the family together and Grandpa in good spirits.


Grandpa Duey sure makes the big 8 - 7 look good, ha?!  


Though it is safe to say all of us would rather not have come together for the reason we did this past week, having everyone home meant we had time to do a lot of cousin bonding.  Wednesday night, the cousins (most of us) gathered at our house for an evening of drinks, snacks and Olympics observations.  We even made a run to Taco Bell, a favorite of Grandma's, to pick up some tacos and a Mexican pizza in her honor.  

Friday night was an impromptu cousins shindig sparked by the dinner gathering at Uncle Mike and Auntie Pat's house.  I'm so glad Shannon gave me a call and my night went from one with no real plans to one with so many of my Runnells cousins around me.  Aside from the fact that I can now officially say I am able to field phone calls while on the treadmill, which is where I was when Shannon called -- I sprinted the last half of my run, changed, grabbed a few bottles of wine and headed out -- I also can say that playing games isn't half bad.  

Saturday night was more of the same, drinks and fun with the cousins. We watched a bit of Olympics and Brian's live broadcast of the ABS Nationals Climbing Competition.  I think we also did a good bit of work on our beverage supply.  It was a nice chance for all of us to enjoy being together one more time before the chaos that is adult life drew us all in separate directions -- school, work, babies, spouses who are thousands of miles away, etc.....

The past several days, for all the emotions that were packed into them, were good ones.  We leaned on each other, we laughed loudly and often, we grew closer -- we confirmed the fact that family IS forever!  And I know we did it all with Grandma watching over us.  

 the cousins (15), cousins-in-law (5), significant others (2)
and great -grandchildren (2)



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Just a Little Evening Adventure

Image
Sometimes you have those days that turn out to be so very different than you expected them to be.  Wednesday was one of those days.  We welcomed houseguest Tuesday evening, and I thought I might do a bit of climbing with them in the morning, but then I expected to return to my typical routine - take a hike/go for a run, do some work and head to the gym for some evening climbing with Brian.  Instead, we decided to solo the Second Flatiron, a six-hundred or so foot climb up one of Boulder's most notable landmarks.     To the best of my recollection, I have not soloed anything before (read: climb without a rope or protection/gear).  The only part that unnerved me, however, was the 'jump.'  This was a point where, along the climb, you are required to leap across a divide in the rocks. I decided the benefits outweighed the cost/risk/fear, and I joined Brian, Alex and Cait, our houseguest, and Josh, another Sconnie native and AdRock climber living the d...
Read more

Stylin' in My New Ride!

Image
Last Friday was an exciting day for me.  Though the new school year was rapidly approaching and my nerves were out of control in anticipation of starting a new school year in a new school with a relatively unfamiliar staff, I happily headed to the car dealership to pick up my new ride, a beautiful white Ford Fusion with all sorts of bells and whistles!   We haven't had a new car in the Runnells family in a few years...and that car quickly became Brian's.  This car, however, is all mine and I LOVE IT!!  A big THANK YOU goes out to my hubbers, who dealt with all the less-than-enjoyable stuff that went along with getting this car  (suffice it to say, our initial car salesman was less than professional and almost drove us to another  dealership).  I think about it each time I get into the car. Doesn't my ALUMNI plate holder look good?!  Want to listen to a little SIRIUS radio?  I'm lovin' making calls via my car Drivi...
Read more

Helping Chelsea and Kyle

Image
Brace yourselves... this is a long one...and I'm asking for your help. As some of you may know, someone very close to me, Chelsea Bullis, experienced a life-changing event on Sunday, June 10, 2012.  She and her boyfriend, Kyle, were in a terrible motorcycle accident that left them both seriously injured.   Chelsea and her family have always been a part of my life. Chelsea's Aunt Anita was my first babysitter, and eventually her grandma, Maureen, and  her mom, Lynn,  took turns taking care of my brother and me.  Chelsea's Aunt Lainey is my mom's very best friend.  Chelsea, her brother Chad, her cousins Sam and Rachael and I all grew up together.  We took summer trips together, and when I was old enough, I began taking care of Chelsea, her brother and her cousins.  Chelsea and her family were so close to me that we began referring to each other as cousins...and 20+ years later, it is still how we refer to one another.   So ...
Read more