Meeting Her Family

If you read the other parts of my rendition, then you know how I met Katie’s parents and sister. But I’ll tell it again.

August 15, 2010 was the day that I met both Katie and her family. It was a Sunday afternoon and I had been invited out to the Iverson’s for Sabbath dinner . . . and to meet Katie and her family. So the first person I really interacted with in the family was Jeni, the outgoing, crazy little sister. She was quite entertaining during dinner, cracking all sorts of jokes and generally being a pill to those close to her, like her sister. I have gotten to know Jenni a little bit since then and she really is a great girl. She is funny and kind, and she has a good heart.

After dinner was over, Jenni and most of the other guests left and it was just Katie and her parents and I left talking in the kitchen. Mostly it was Mr. Travis and I asking each other about work and getting lost on various tangents. Katie tried to interject every once in a while and her mom tried “once” too. I liked Mr. Travis from the get go, he seemed funny and smart and funny and capable of getting things done and funny. He is a funny guy.

I didn’t get much of a chance that day, as I have implied, to get to know Mrs. Travis. I was a little worried because she didn’t say much of anything. What I did notice was that she jumped right in after dinner and started washing dishes and helping in the kitchen. As it turns out, she really can talk, and she is a total sweetheart. She thinks things through weeks in advance and plans things so they come out perfectly. She even bought Katie a manicure, anticipating lots of hand pictures over Christmas break. I felt totally at home over Christmas and she made sure that I got lots of presents. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. I’ll be lucky to have her as a mother-in-law.

Some time mid-semester, Grandma and Grandpa Travis came up to visit Jenni. I took the opportunity to meet them and took them all out to dinner. When I first met Grandma Simmie, at church, she gave me a great big ol’ hug, then she backed off and wanted to know if she had been too forward. She is such sweet lady. I told her of course not and gave her another hug. I was then introduced to Grandpa Don, who when he realized who I was, grabbed my bicep and gave it a few hard squeezes and said, “just checking”. I haven’t spent much time with him, but he seems like a great man from the stories I have heard. Apparently everyone in Fallon knows and loves him because of all the community service projects and volunteer things that he has done though out his life.

Back to Christmas break. I was introduced when I arrived at their house to Mr. Travis’s massive array of tools, which made me quite jealous. He is a man who loves to work on projects and to get things done. A man after my own heart.

After Katie and I got engaged, I got to meet Uncle Matt and Aunt Caroline (Mr. Travis’s sister) who came over for Christmas dinner along with Grandma and Grandpa Travis. Dinner was excellent by the way, and the table was full of laughing and smiles. Matt and Caroline were very kind and warned me independently at least twice about Uncle Craig.

We went over to Uncle Craig’s house for Christmas dessert. Boy howdy, the first things that I noticed was the 10,000 Kilowatt hours of Christmas lights going. That was thanks to Kenny, the Christmas buff of the family. So we went inside and I got to meet everyone, including Drew, who was hiding behind the door and had threatened earlier to smell me and say “you smell good”. After that slightly awkward moment, Drew decided to show off his new R2D2 voice activated unit. Then we got the story of how long it took him to get another of his presents through a network of hidden clues and scavenger hunts.

Uncle Craig tried his best to be the “rotten” uncle that everyone claims he is. Turns out he is one of the sweetest guys. He even bought me a Christmas present, though I did have to endure a bit of ridicule form him. It was all in good fun and I was able to bounce most of it right back at him. For instance when I asked where the bathroom was, he said, “First door on your left down the hallway.” I took the first door to the left and ended up in the laundry room. Turns out, the bathroom is the second door on the right. I had to inform hims that not only did he not know his left from his right, but also that he couldn’t count. The evening progressed much the same way. He was quite happy when I told him that I was in construction and even happier when I explained to him the difference between LCD, LED, and Plasma. “Wow, smart and a hard worker.” See, like I said, sweetest guy.