California Dreaming: I've been everywhere….

Where to begin??? PART 1: This trip started out as a trip to WI for a memorial for my brother Keith who died from a massive stroke on Feb 5th. It grew into a moving/painting marathon. Tristan accepted a new job so a move was necessary from Manhattan,KS to Minneapolis, MN. He was quite excited over the prospect of big city living and not having to move all the time. This is the child that claims we that after the first year of college we gave him the Sequioia and made him move by himself! So I changed my ticket from Milwaukee to Kansas City, MO and left 4 days sooner. I enjoyed some quality time with Tristan while we packed up his stuff, cleaned his apartment, and drove to MN and on to WI.

Me and my boy!

The apartment looked fine BEFORE we started to pack!

Cleaning

My fee for helping was food. Yummy sushi one evening.

All packed up and ready to roll. The rest of his possessions are in a POD being stored until he finds a house to purchase.

The green and blue of Missouri

A perfect latte somewhere in Minneapolis. We drove 9 hours to Minneapolis and spent 14 hours there, slept and unpacked before driving 5 hours to WI. Tristan has a small apartment in one of our friends ( new friends to us) homes. They graciously welcomed him in as a temporary boarder. Yet another wonderful blessing we have because of our faith.

Ahh…. Wisconsin in the spring- greenness, Harleys and orange cones!

Yes, my heart did a little pitter patter when we saw this sign. I am a woman with 2 countries so to speak. Wisconsin and California.

We met up with Dave and my brother Kevin ( drove from Florida) at some of our dear friend's home. This was the view from our bedroom window.

Our host and hostess- Robert and Ruth.

Me and my bro.

We spent the next night at Randy and Cathy's home. This is my Aunt Doris who is the last remaining sibling from my mom's family. And her son Randy.
The Saturday of Memorial Day weekend was when we had our private memorial service for our brother who left us suddenly at age 63. He was living in Florida with Kevin at the time of his death so we had him cremated. My sister, Karen, graciously hosted lunch for all of us at her home. We shared memories of Keith and viewed a slide show of photo from over the years. The baby photos with the bead bracelet (talk about a choking hazard) and a caricature form one of Keith's computer gaming jobs.

Very exciting news was announced via Mikayla's shirt. My sister is going to be a grandma again in December. The circle of life continues- one dies and another is born.

My parent's 5 grandchildren lined up in order of age- Kyle being the oldest. They were all born within a 5 1/2 year span! Left to right: Kyle, Kaylyn, Shane, Kasen, and Tristan

Us siblings.

The whole crew.

Anyone who knew Keith knows why the slideshow was entitled " Basically." He rarely said a sentence that didn't contain that word!
Part 2: Home demo and painting. Shane and Nikelle purchased their first home in Berlin, WI. Berlin is a small town in rural Wisconsin and right near Shane's workplaces. It is an older home ( 1964) with good "bones" but in need of upgrades. The guys got right to work with a jack hammer! many layers of flooring were ripped out also.