Wyoming Again in 2010

I know we just visited Wyoming in March, but we decided to go again in June because Zack's cousin and his family were going to be there. They live in Ohio and we've only seen them once in the past 10 years or so. They have a boy who is about a month older than Caleb. Zack's Uncle Jim was also in town to see his son so it was almost a family reunion! We did a lot of the same things we did in March so I'm not going to spend a lot of time talking about it. I'll let the pictures and their captions tell the stories.

Caleb and his second cousin.

Not quite sure about his face in this one.

Zack's grandpa has a big garden next to the house.

Here's more of the garden. And Grandpa!

More of the garden and a shot of the side of the house.

Zack's uncles, his mom and his grandparents. Just one uncle is missing.

What Grandpa Ray was doing a lot of the time. (There's a TV in the corner of the room you can't see.)

Can't go on vacation without a favorite book! I am now among the thousands of mothers who have this entire book memorized.

Zack's cousin, Joe, wanted to celebrate Grandpa Dike's birthday because he had missed it. Not quite sure why there's a 21 on the cake.

A nice shot of Wyoming sky.

Wyoming 2010

Zack is fortunate enough to have both sets of grandparents still living. (Which makes up for me who now has no grandparents still living.) After we got Caleb we wanted to introduce him to his great-grandparents. So, in March we headed up to Casper, Wyoming to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Dike.

Visits to Casper are always fun because of a number of reasons. Here are a few:

#1: Zack's Grandma always makes pies. And she expects you to eat them. Sometimes by force if you refuse.

#2: Zack's Grandma has a never-ending cookie jar.

#3: Zack's grandparents like to play cards.

#4: Did I mention the pies? And did I mention that one is always banana cream?

#5: Zack's grandparents are the kind of people you can just sit at the kitchen table with, eat your pie or cookie, and just enjoy sitting. Talking is optional, but always enjoyable.

#6: Zack's grandma is the perfect doting grandma. Taking care of you is her job, and you'd better not keep her from doing it.

We were excited to have Caleb meet these fabulous people. It appears the feeling was mutual.

Wondering if Grandma is going to let anyone else have a chance to hold the boy.

Grandpa finally has a chance to meet him. :)

It was about 10:30 at night when we got there, and Caleb had been sleeping in the car, so he wasn't so sure about things right away.

By the end of the trip he had warmed up a bit. In Zack's grandparent's kitchen, high up on the wall, there is a mirror set into a piece of wood. The mirror is kind of set far back in the wood so you can't tell it's a mirror unless you get up really close to it. From a distance it looks like an opening to a cave or something. For as long as Zack can remember his grandpa would ask him or his brother (or any of the grandkids) if they wanted to see the monkey who lived up there. Then he would lift them up until they could see their own face in the mirror. Caleb, of course, had to be part of that tradition. He looks a little surprised.

Here's a shot of everyone just sitting around talking. And here's one of the many times we played cards. Ah, vacation at it's best. I know it may sound funny, but I'm always nervous when other family members meet or interact with Caleb. Some part of me wonders if they're really going to accept him as family or if they're going to treat him differently because he's black or adopted or both. Well, I never should have doubted these people. They treat him like one of their own. They understand that family isn't all about blood and genetics. It's just about love.