A Taste of Home, Two Ways

It is becoming common knowledge, to those of you who know the Boriches well, that we love to cook. One of our newest passions is the preparation of virtually any ingredient, 2 or 3 different ways, creating a duo or a trio. For example: Salmon, 2 ways, aka "A Duo of Salmon". Each different style of cooking, or different combination of spices, makes each dish unique and special, although it still possesses the same basic component.
So, my "taste of home, 2 ways" is what we got served up during the week surrounding my birthday. My parents finally got to come for their first visit to Tiffin!! The 1st "taste of home" was actually seeing my parents after 10 long months of being away. It was so exciting as we stood in the Detroit airport...waiting to see them, and any changes that they may have gone through (like my mom's almost completely white hair!), while simultaneously wondering what they're going to think of all of our changes (kids grow A LOT in 10 months!). But the new feeling doesn't last long, and we slipped easily into that comfortable feeling that only families share. After an hour & a half drive, my 2nd "taste of home" arrived. That was simply having my parents be present in our new life...seeing our home through their own eyes, not on a computer screen, and exploring our new town with us. My homes collided by having my family "in" my family~and it felt good. It was so great incorporating them into our new life here in Tiffin! Now, when I talk about going to the park, Mom & Max have the memory of walking there with us and having a pasta salad dinner under the pavilion. When I talk about skating around the park on my Heely's and shooting baskets at the courts as a family, they've now been part of it and they even got to shoot a few with us! We get to store the memory in our mind's eye, and I only have to try to re-create the memory by blog for you that weren't here to directly share and participate. Also, my parents have a taste of my home. The distance between our homes doesn't feel so far anymore, now that we've been able to share ours with them. So, thank you, Mom & Max, for giving us "A Duo of A Taste of Home".

While they were here, they painstakingly took on the project of refinishing our dining room table. Although it was hot (a refreshing change from Idaho) while they were here, they buried themselves in our shared garage, day after day, cleaning and stripping,detailing and sanding, staining and varnishing. Since our table once belonged to Joe's parents, there are lots of memories attached to it. Now, in it's stunning new state, created lovingly at the hands of my parents, it will go on to be part of our memories, as well. We treasure it every day~again, thank you, Mom & Max!




On my birthday (Sunday, May 30th), we forced them to stop this project of love (in between coats!) and we headed out for a day of tourism. First stop was A Day Out With Thomas. We drove for 2 hours to reach our destination, which was basically a traveling, carnival-type venue, all based around Thomas the Train. Maxie's latest obsession is trains, so we all had a wonderful time watching his face light up, over and over again, as he found himself surrounded by everything train!






First things first~sunscreen mohawk for Joshie Bear...



Engineer's cap for Maxie!



I just love how Mykah accessorized for this photo, don't you?!



As usual, Maxie checks to make sure we're close by. Josh couldn't care less, as long as he can put something inappropriate (like a train touched by thousands of other grubby little hands) in his mouth. EWWWWWW!




Who's noticing that we are coordinated~Max & Joe, Mykah & I, and the boys?! Totally NOT planned, I assure you, but if it had been planned, Mom didn't get the memo.




Hoppy balls! Max wouldn't get any closer than this, and Josh just wanted to carry his around then launch it at some poor, unsuspecting child.




Since it was my birthday, I got lots of snuggle time and lots of posing for pix! I have to take advantage when I get it, right?!






Baby Mykah, taking a break!



Waiting anxiously for our ride on Thomas the Train!



Glowing faces of happiness? or heat stroke?! The adults were pretty happy to be inside an air-conditioned train! My parents do actually like each other, but they were craving some air circulation and didn't want to disrupt the flow:)



No captions needed...




Our tourism turned into a little terrorism, as usual...




Nothing, however, that a separation couldn't handle!



The 2nd half of our day was just a half hour's drive from the train station where we had our ride on Thomas~The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, in Cleveland. My dad LOVES Elvis, so we thought this would be a fun stop! An interesting tidbit~when we lived in NY, we were 2 hours from The National Baseball Hall of Fame. Here, 2 hours from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and 2 hours the other direction is the Football Hall of Fame! (You can probably guess where we'll head for their next visit!)







GET ME OUTTA HERE!!!! Joshie Bear ran wayyyyy out of patience for his stroller!



Fast forward 2 days, Maxie still hasn't taken off his hat!




A few pix of Tiffin~the courthouse that some people are trying to save and some downtown shops. Notice, Max hopped into Tiffin life by wearing the hat he bought at the University when we stopped by there! BTW, you're not imagining the 3rd picture~ the convenience stores here are drive thru!! You pull right in and tell them what you need, then the clerk comes to your window with your "order"! The newness still hasn't worn off:) Sometimes, we think of random things before we go and giggle after we send them to fetch Junior Mints, beef jerky, a newspaper and a lottery ticket! Then, when they come back, "Whoopsie, forgot to tell you we need a water and a soda!" (JK! we've only thought about it!)





Golfing fun with Papa...you probably won't be surprised to learn that, courtesy of Nana & Papa, all the kids have golf clubs (only my parents would give REAL clubs, not plastic ones, to a toddler!), so Papa got to spend the afternoon giving lessons~just like when I was a kid! Good thing I was behind the camera, because I got a little teary watching my dad and my kids play together.

Here's Papa teaching the 15 month old the proper grip:)




Poor Papa~as hard as he tried, he couldn't correct Maxie's hockey grip! He resorted to just making sure Josh was out of the way when Maxie started swinging!




Mykah's 1st time hearing Papa say, "Keep your head down, eye on the ball!" She usually gets Papa channeled through me!



In serious need of a caddy!



In the end, Josh just wanted to eat it~as usual!



We had a wonderful visit with my parents, as you can see from the length of this entry! Oh well, that's what my blog is for~to share! Thanks for stopping by. Since we are headed to Idaho & Utah in 6 days, we'll have much more to share and SOON!!! In the meantime, blessings to all!

The Family Tree

When most people think of a Family Tree, they picture a cute way to represent geneology and the complexities surrounding the search for a family's extensive lineage. I have a different picture in my mind of The Family Tree. Our parents, strong & steadfast, like the trunk of the tree, branching off into smaller, but almost as powerful, "sibling branches", blooming with the even smaller branches and leaves that are their own children. The roots of the Family Tree in my mind are complex, and possess their own kind of strength, popping up sometimes where I least expect them to-similar to our loved ones who have passed on. We always know that they are "here", but we can't always see them. Then, just when we think that the roots are somewhere else, we see one poking out from the ground in a unique place, to remind us that they are still here, and close by.
When I picture my Family Tree, I can see myself sitting on the ground, leaning against the trunk for support, protected from harm by the umbrella that the branches and leaves provide. I can look around and see the variations in the ground, shaped by the root system of my tree and marvel at the distance that it covers. I know now, without a doubt, that the worst part of living in New York was being so far away from family. We were too far away from our Tree to feel that protection and, therefore, love. There were times when I felt so alone and removed from all the interaction of our families in Idaho & Utah that I physically ached.
While we are now only 432 miles closer to most of our family, we are only a hop, skip and a jump away from others. My Joe's uncle Dan and his family live outside of Detroit, which is an easy 2 hour drive from our new home. Given this scenario, we completely threw ourselves their way a couple of weeks ago! We literally called and asked if we could come to see them, then proceeded to invite ourselves the very next day. They graciously accepted our invitation to invade them, and we did just that!!
Imagine our delight when we got there, only to find out that we were also going to get to see Lisa and Brian and his family. We were finally able to enjoy being around family, and the Boriches made certain that we enjoyed every minute of our time with them.
Uncle Dan & Aunt Mary Jane welcomed us into their beautiful home with open arms. Nevermind that we had never been there before, we felt like we belonged there with them in about 2 minutes! Lisa came next, and was a refreshing burst of energy and love. Mykah, Max & Josh were soon competing for her attention. Being the multi-tasker that she appears to be bode well for our children, because she had no trouble dividing her time & energy between all 3! Uncle Dan took us on a boat ride around their beautiful lake and when we arrived back at the house, Brian and his family had arrived! We finally got to meet beautiful Carmelina & precious Gioia (pronounced Joya)and no one would've ever guessed that some of us had just met~because we are family. That's what families do, and that's what we've missed for the last 3 years! I forsee many, many more trips to Waterford, MI, but here are some pix from that 1st one:

Uncle Dan & Aunt Mary Jane went out & bought the cutest little table for the kiddos. I was pleasantly surprised when Joe & Uncle Dan got it put together on their 1st attempt. That must've been Dan's influence;) There were only about 5 leftover screws, but it did stay together and supported 3 toddlers, so mission accomplished!


Maxie fell in love with this bench that overlooks the lake~the bird poop on the corner held his attention longer than I care to admit...


Uncle Dan slipped easily into a Grandpa-type role with our kids~putting on their life jackets and bandaging soccer wounds!



The boat ride was stunningly beautiful and provided lots of time to visit while taking in the scenery.




After the boat ride came time to play! The kids (of all ages)enjoyed playing with all of Gioia's toys outside while Aunt Mary Jane made us and incredible dinner.




Gioia was so stinkin' cute when she had a ball in one hand, and her baby in the other! You can always tell a sport's family when everyone is trying to coax a little girl to put the baby down so she can play ball;) She held her ground, though, and this baby spent the day in her arms!



Solving all the world's problems, I'm sure!


Maxie dragged anyone that would let him over to check out the water, and Brian was the lucky one this time!


Tickle, tickle!


Joe & Uncle Dan


Joe with cousins, Lisa & Brian


Thank you, Borich family, for this beautiful day! We feel so blessed that our next chapter includes having you close by. We won't take for granted this opportunity.