Weekend Whirlwind

What a weekend! This is going to be a recap post, rather than a reflection - no waxing philosophical for me tonight, thanks.

On Saturday, one of our friends was ordained into the priesthood at the Cathedral in Salina. The best part about this, is that we got to see a lot of our friends from Hays that we haven't seen for a while.

There was a dinner following the ordination Mass, and we took our time getting in there for various reasons. By the time we got our food and scanned the area for a table, we realized that our friends had already filled up a table, so we decided to sit at the next table over. Our friends would have none of that, though. They went out of their way to make room for more chairs so we could sit with them, crowded around the table. It made me feel real good. Coming from someone who, in High School, had a lunch period opposite my friends, I usually had a difficult time trying to find someplace to sit in the lunch room, and a lot of times ended up by myself. So I am really grateful for my friends, who I don't have to put on an act when I am around them - I can be myself and be accepted (okay, so maybe some minor philosophical waxing).

Then we went down to visit some other people that I can be myself around - my family. I was really excited to get to see Uncle Max, Aunt Sherri, Uncle Dennis, and Aunt Ruth, who came from Michigan and Texas for the Harper High School all class reunion. We usually only get to see them about once a year during the Plank Family Vacations (PFV, copyright pending - HA!). Watching Rachel interact with them was not only cute, but also put a big smile on my face.

We look forward to seeing everyone in July for this year's PFV, and look forward to celebrating Rachel's second birthday. Hopefully the trip will go smoothly, and we will limit the number of "adventures" (Dad's code for getting lost).