Last Friday evening I drove up to spend the weekend with my dad's cousin Ivan and his wife Kim and get in another first (besides Macs and Michigan) -- meeting my second cousins!
On Saturday, a friend of theirs from church had a high school graduation ceremony in the morning and an open house all afternoon and evening. The theme for the open house was "Tea from around the world", so they had some five or six tea stations, including Indian Chai, Southern Tea, and (of course!) Argentine maté. I helped Uncle Ivan with this last station... even though he did have some 20 more years of experience living in Argentina (he and Aunt Kim are heading there next February as church-planting missionaries, Lord willing). He explained the tradition of maté - slowing down and spending time together - and many people did indeed sit down to pass the maté around and talk. It was quite a good way to meet and chat with a lot of people, not to mention get your stimulants in for the day. Uncle Ivan and I must have had a least fifteen or sixteen rounds of maté each. We also had the opportunity to try some roasted maté, a new experience for us both. It is certainly milder. I also had a mango tea and a bubble tea (tapioca, ice cream and Earl Grey). However, I did try to stop drinking around 6 p.m., which must have worked, since falling asleep at 11 p.m. was no trouble.
Sunday it was time to get up and start making the cucumber sandwiches and other goodies for the bridal shower for Natalie, the girl marrying my second cousin John. At the same time, Natalie and John were busy finishing up mini muffins and fruit kabobs for Sunday School breakfast. It was enjoyable to share in the Sunday services at Countryside Bible Church, though Aunt Kim and I did have to wander around a while during offertory to find three seats left together. All the seats that looked open from afar were actually reserved with Bibles once we got up to them.
After church, it was back to the kitchen to melt the chocolate for fondue and attend to other (less important) preparations for the shower. It was a nice little shower. The fondue did start curdling, but some intelligent person put a spoon in near the end, so we could scoop plenty out on our plates. Then several people had the bright idea of having me write the gift list (since I knew everyone, of course).
We went home and crashed on the sofa for about an hour before heading off to the local park for a picnic and concert the church was holding there, through which they hoped to meet more of the community. They had homemade ice cream - yum yum.
Here's a link to a few photos. The last is a short video of one of the quartet's numbers.
Unfortunately it never occurred to me to take pictures till those last few hours, and then none especially of the Ivan Hoyts... but I'm sure I can obtain some soon.
After that it was off for home, with the last of the dark chocolate fondue to keep me company and alert, which it did tremendously well.
What's better to do on a weekend than take a road trip to visit family?
2 comments:
I love tea, and I don't drink coffee. I have never yet had bubble tea, though my younger son thinks it is great. It just sounds a bit too weird for me.
Oh Thainamu, you have to try it! The best part is getting to the large tapioca pearls at the bottom, which have soaked up some of the drink flavor and are delightfully chewy.
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