Mom and Dad went to Pennsylvania to Beaver Stadium for the OSU game this weekend. They said it was awesome, and probably even more fun than home games because the traveling fans are all HXC Bucks fans. Mom said the Buckeye crowd stood up and cheered the entire game. My parents had a really great get-away weekend and I'm glad for them.

Meanwhile Les house-sat (because of Great Grandma Ginny). She is awesome and took Adry overnight on Saturday so that Ben and I could have a date, and then the next day she prepared Sunday lunch for all of us. She is so great, I love her.

Well, it was honestly a rollercoaster of a weekend for me- lowest of lows, highest of highs type of deal. But in the end everything was more than okay. My heart is so full. My life is so full. I'm holding on to that.
On Sunday night, I don't know how it got started, but we began going through my dad's case of keepsakes and memories in the family room. You've probably noticed it in pictures before. Here's a cropped picture of the case:

It was really neat to rehear a lot of the stories behind those items because I'd forgotten many of them. My grandpa (my dad's dad who passed away when I was 11) brought back all sorts of awesome stuff from other countries he'd been to. At the top of the case (cut off at the right side) is an authentic (as in not touristy-- grandpa didn't want touristy items so he got a man to sell it to him) drum used for dancing and celebrating in New Guinea. Then, up on the fireplace mantel (top center of picture) is a real ice age stone axe head. Dad said it wouldn't be unlikely that it was used to kill a person. A Mayan calendar is above that. There was also a Chinese calligraphy brush, a pretty letter opener from Argentina, and many other things.

Dad also has stuff in there from his personal life memories like his own grandfather's barber straight razors (he had a barber shop), and a smurf figurine that my mom got for him when they were teenagers; he'd set it up by his drum set when he'd play shows. And Matt about had a heart attack when dad pulled out our all time favorite childhood book CAPS FOR SALE! He'd been concerned about finding it for months, and you should have seen his face when dad pulled it out of the case- he seriously flipped. All three of us distinctly remember how dad used to read the book to us every night. He must have read it to us hundreds of times. Matt and I simultaneously broke out into a fit of shaking our fists and exclaiming, "YOU MONKEYS, YOU! You give me back my caps!" the way dad used to. Gosh, we had such a great childhood.

Anyway, it all gave me a renewed appreciation for that case and all of the things dad has in that family room. It was fun to look through it and hear all of the history and stories connected to each little treasure.

And, on another note, I HAVE to share this video with you. My parents have a boom box in the family room by the fireplace, and of course Adryel has discovered how to turn it on and turn it up. He's not satisfied until his music is LOUD. So, in this video he is groovin' and gettin' down to the music and he keeps turning up the volume. As he is dancing he bumps the station tuner so the music turns to static and it startles him so bad he about jumps out of his pants. So funny.



We ended the night with the greatest game of Uno ever in the history of Uno. Throughout the entire game I laughed so hard my belly hurt, and I needed that. We learned that my dad might be the greatest strategist in the world, but luck is definitely not on his side. The man cannot win a game of luck to save his life.



Oh the fun that ensues weekday mornings at the Ellwood household:

They have fun zooming around the house at breakfast time.