Donated Canned Carrots, TED Talks, 5 Course Dinner, Night Crabbing, Roof Top Blessings
I’m not sure an extended family vacation could have been more delightful. It will certainly go down as one of the highlights of the 2013 Boyd furlough. Location: St. Simon Island, GA. With much thought and research my parents had found a home and it was such a treat. We all loved the ocean and tidal water view. The home had been designed to maximize the views. Which always changed with the moving of the ocean waters…bidding, calling, soothing, and ever held in its boundaries by God.
However, a home is just a home. It was the people in it, that made it so special. Finally, joining us was my eldest brother Jonathan, much more affectionately referred to as J or Jim. Many of the cousins only knew him as a mysterious man whom only a handful of them could remember. This week, they all caught a glimpse of his style, his humor and talent at improv drama (wherever we were) and his cooking, when he spent hours making us a 5 course meal.
Nick, my second eldest brother, joined us with my lovely SIL, Sherri, and their 4 boys (yes it is true, we both have 4 boys). Nick was our grill cook and put out the grill fire and saved the pizza night when the electricity went out. He just cooked those pizza’s on the grill. As you can only imagine, the 8 boys had a grand time together. Fishing off the pier…..we won’t tell you what we caught! But I can predict this, that it will grow in our imaginations over the years as we recount the “year of the great catch”. And recount it we will!
Of course, Mom and Dad were there…..putting up with all the commotion of “their family”. My, how it has grown from just the 5 of us! What joy they expressed in us all being together.
Some of the events that just stand out was the meal that Jonathan created. It is not an ordinary day, that you are served a 5 course meal in your vacation home. Each dish had such an artistic flare. A lovely gift from J.
Jonathan also inspired Dad and us siblings to participate in a home version of Ted Talks. I, spoke on Third Culture Kids. Because my brothers and I are from England and of course, our 4 boys now live in Indonesia. Nick, talked on Indecisiveness. Maybe, because the Ashworth family struggles with this…..just a bit! Great illustrations….that I keep pondering. Jonathan talked about being so smart, yet really we are so dumb. Very thought provocative. Then our Dad, took the floor with his talk on “The importance of Being Silly”. He had us all playing kazoo’s, drawing with blind folds on, conducting an orchestra…..it was really all quite silly and I think everyone felt really stimulated by all the ideas and thoughts and then Dad’s humor.
Some canned carrots showed up in the kitchen from some anonymous donors. All of us prefer fresh or home cooked carrots so they were kind of a joke and kept popping up in our conversation or appearing out of the cupboard throughout the week. Mom has always had an amazing gift of concocting recipes. And all of us three children can do the same. So we decided to have a “home version” of the Iron Chef. The canned carrots being our common ingredient. We had 1 hour and could use whatever ingredients were in the kitchen. There was lots of fun and teasing as we pretended to fuss over room, pots, and ingredients. Sherri was our official timer and organized the rules. Darron caught all the TED talks and cooking contest on video. Jonathan made a chilled soup with a mint topping. He won, the contest. Nick made a really tasty soup, with lightly fried sweet potato chips topping it. Mother made exquisite potato and carrot patties, that she cooked until golden on the griddle. And I made a carrot, applesauce, raisin cake, drizzled with a chocolate topping.
We always say that the best place to take a bunch of kids is to the beach. The parents can relax a bit while the children dig castles, swim, & hunt crabs at night. At this beach there were many little fish and at night they could catch hundreds of them. We also took long walks, tried a go at paddle boarding. Love, love, loved the beach.
I'll confess that on Friday my spirits plummeted. It was almost over. Late that afternoon I needed to go get some pizza for our Ashworth family vacation traditional pizza night. J said he would come with me. I wasn't sure i wanted him to come. Sometimes when one is down, they just feel like wallowing alone. However, I knew that my moments with Jonathan are very few and far in between. Thus our adventure began of stopping at the coffee shop where all the rest of the family had been to frequently all week. He showed me a carving of a tree spirit (a man's face) in a tree. We grabbed the pizza and then i asked my brother if I could just have a few minutes of retail therapy? He happily followed me into Talbots and was sincerely interested in all I was looking at. Commenting on different outfits, matching things up, and patiently waited for me as I tried on multiple combinations. I returned home much happier and treasuring our outing.
On our last night together we climbed up onto the sky roof and said a blessing to each other.
What a rich week, filled with such wonderful memories. It met every expectation and more. What a joy to be reunited with our family on furlough.
However, a home is just a home. It was the people in it, that made it so special. Finally, joining us was my eldest brother Jonathan, much more affectionately referred to as J or Jim. Many of the cousins only knew him as a mysterious man whom only a handful of them could remember. This week, they all caught a glimpse of his style, his humor and talent at improv drama (wherever we were) and his cooking, when he spent hours making us a 5 course meal.
Nick, my second eldest brother, joined us with my lovely SIL, Sherri, and their 4 boys (yes it is true, we both have 4 boys). Nick was our grill cook and put out the grill fire and saved the pizza night when the electricity went out. He just cooked those pizza’s on the grill. As you can only imagine, the 8 boys had a grand time together. Fishing off the pier…..we won’t tell you what we caught! But I can predict this, that it will grow in our imaginations over the years as we recount the “year of the great catch”. And recount it we will!
Of course, Mom and Dad were there…..putting up with all the commotion of “their family”. My, how it has grown from just the 5 of us! What joy they expressed in us all being together.
Some of the events that just stand out was the meal that Jonathan created. It is not an ordinary day, that you are served a 5 course meal in your vacation home. Each dish had such an artistic flare. A lovely gift from J.
Jonathan also inspired Dad and us siblings to participate in a home version of Ted Talks. I, spoke on Third Culture Kids. Because my brothers and I are from England and of course, our 4 boys now live in Indonesia. Nick, talked on Indecisiveness. Maybe, because the Ashworth family struggles with this…..just a bit! Great illustrations….that I keep pondering. Jonathan talked about being so smart, yet really we are so dumb. Very thought provocative. Then our Dad, took the floor with his talk on “The importance of Being Silly”. He had us all playing kazoo’s, drawing with blind folds on, conducting an orchestra…..it was really all quite silly and I think everyone felt really stimulated by all the ideas and thoughts and then Dad’s humor.
Some canned carrots showed up in the kitchen from some anonymous donors. All of us prefer fresh or home cooked carrots so they were kind of a joke and kept popping up in our conversation or appearing out of the cupboard throughout the week. Mom has always had an amazing gift of concocting recipes. And all of us three children can do the same. So we decided to have a “home version” of the Iron Chef. The canned carrots being our common ingredient. We had 1 hour and could use whatever ingredients were in the kitchen. There was lots of fun and teasing as we pretended to fuss over room, pots, and ingredients. Sherri was our official timer and organized the rules. Darron caught all the TED talks and cooking contest on video. Jonathan made a chilled soup with a mint topping. He won, the contest. Nick made a really tasty soup, with lightly fried sweet potato chips topping it. Mother made exquisite potato and carrot patties, that she cooked until golden on the griddle. And I made a carrot, applesauce, raisin cake, drizzled with a chocolate topping.
We always say that the best place to take a bunch of kids is to the beach. The parents can relax a bit while the children dig castles, swim, & hunt crabs at night. At this beach there were many little fish and at night they could catch hundreds of them. We also took long walks, tried a go at paddle boarding. Love, love, loved the beach.
I'll confess that on Friday my spirits plummeted. It was almost over. Late that afternoon I needed to go get some pizza for our Ashworth family vacation traditional pizza night. J said he would come with me. I wasn't sure i wanted him to come. Sometimes when one is down, they just feel like wallowing alone. However, I knew that my moments with Jonathan are very few and far in between. Thus our adventure began of stopping at the coffee shop where all the rest of the family had been to frequently all week. He showed me a carving of a tree spirit (a man's face) in a tree. We grabbed the pizza and then i asked my brother if I could just have a few minutes of retail therapy? He happily followed me into Talbots and was sincerely interested in all I was looking at. Commenting on different outfits, matching things up, and patiently waited for me as I tried on multiple combinations. I returned home much happier and treasuring our outing.
On our last night together we climbed up onto the sky roof and said a blessing to each other.
What a rich week, filled with such wonderful memories. It met every expectation and more. What a joy to be reunited with our family on furlough.
Thanks for including us in your word and photo journey!
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