Patrick Hayden Schultz was born January 9, 2016, at 4:58 am to Ariann (Neil’s youngest daughter) and Eric Schutz in Missoula, Montana. He was 8 lbs 0.9 ounces with a 14 inch head and 21 inches long. We enjoyed getting to watch him grow through lots of photos and finally got to meet the precious little guy in May and June of 2016 as he turned 5 months old. Neil flew in to Missoula the end of May and spent two weeks with Patrick, Ariann, and Eric in their new home. They had just moved into their new house and Neil was able to help with a few handyman projects in addition to spending quality time getting to know Patrick and being Granddad Neil. I flew in for the last 4 days of his stay to get to be Grandma Nan and love the special little man.

I started my trip in May landing in LA for 5 days visiting Pamela and Chris and then going up to Ridgecrest with Pamela to visit Mom and Bill. It was a relaxing low-key time. I flew to Missoula late Friday night and the following morning we spent at the downtown farmers market. The weather was beautiful and Patrick was happy in his stroller. We met up with our friends Sunni and Merrill for tea and walking about the downtown looking at some of Merrill’s incredible handmade wood projects installed in several business. Our days were spent working on yard projects and playing with Patrick. Evenings were spent with Eric using his smoker making wonderful meals and I enjoyed their deck hot tub! It ended much too soon and I headed off to Ohio.

I stayed with Dad and Jane in Ohio for 10 days. Dad and I spent time working on projects at the house and also many mornings cleaning the Lion’s Club sausage trailer after the Van Wert County Fair. My time there happened to overlap with Mom in Ohio visiting her family. We had some fun afternoon gatherings and I even showed Aunt Janet how I make my organic scones. Melanie drove up from Maryland in time for our Kreischer family gathering Sunday afternoon. It was great to see all my Uncles and Aunts, cousins and many of their children and grandchildren. Thanks Cindy and Clare for hosting us at your Special Occasions event center.

Time flew by and I was on a flight again to Austin for a reunion with Cal Poly college friends. There were 8 of us altogether. The next post will be about our adventures in Austin.

Four cities, five legs on five different airlines in three and a half weeks (I love google.com/flights for easy searching of one way fares including graphs and flexible date options). It was a great visit with family and friends and especially special to meet and spend time with our new grandson!