Tag Archives: Brenda Mathis

An Autumn 2025 Visit From Sid’s Parents

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We said goodbye to Sidney’s parents today after another awesome visit. They last traveled to Spokane in July 2024 when the days were sunny and hot. This time around, the abundant sunshine was still present but the weather was crisper. However, the cooler temperatures were a fair trade for the beautiful autumn colors that dominated the Inland Northwest landscape. But sunny or not, hot or crisp, muted colors or vibrant colors, one thing remained the same—it sure was nice to spend the past week with them.

We had a really nice visit from my in-laws. October is a great time to visit in Spokane! This is us on the Eastern Washington University campus when Sid, her parents, and my kids came to visit.

This visit was unique in a major way: we broke up their stay with a trip to Missoula. My in-laws had never set foot in Montana before so it was fun to take them to The Treasure State. Driving through the mountains was a neat experience and once we arrived in Missoula we had quite the adventure. We stayed in the C’Mon Inn, a rustic-type wilderness-themed hotel that gave us a couple nights to really spend quality time together.

We stayed at the C’Mon Inn during our time in Missoula. But it didn’t matter how cool the hotel was just as long as Beau got to ride on the luggage cart.

The full day of our excursion was devoted to attending a University of Montana football game. After tailgating, we entered a sun-drenched Washington-Grizzly Stadium where we watched the Griz win in probably the best football weather you could imagine. Once the game concluded we went down on the field and let the kids expend some energy.

It was a joy to watch a football game with Sid’s parents in Washington-Grizzly Stadium. After the Griz won, we went down on the field.

Besides the football game, we scoped out campus, ate at a couple restaurants, and enjoyed the amenities of the hotel that included a pool and numerous hot tubs (including a jacuzzi in our room).

Us “guys” hanging out at MacKenzie River in Missoula.

But on the front and back ends of our time in Montana, we had the pleasure of simply taking it easy with Sidney and Brenda Mathis in Spokane. We spent time in the house relaxing, laughing at Saturday Night Live, watching Jeopardy, playing games, and working on school projects.

One of the games that we played was chess. Sloan got to test her skills against “Dada.”

Speaking of school, Sid’s parents did more than just help the kids with their homework. They dropped off the kids at St. Mary in the morning, bought them tasty school lunch items, and even attended the school’s fun run last Thursday. Sloan felt such honor introducing her classmates to “Gami and Dada.”

My in-laws helped out a lot with the kids over the past week. With so much activity, it was nice for them to just sit down and snuggle up with the kids at the end of the day.

I was also humbled that my in-laws came out to campus to visit me. They saw my office, browsed the Eagle Store, and saw Eastern Washington University in its full glory during leaf color-changing time. They also met some of my colleagues, including my boss.

Sid, her parents, and the kids visited me at work on Thursday. It was a great time to walk on the campus of Eastern Washington University with beautiful autumn colors in full display.

Another signature moment of this latest visit was Sunday dinner at my parents’ house. My mom and dad cooked lasagna and the men got to watch some of the Mariners game. However, to be honest, my dad and father-in-law were more interested in talking to each other than seeing whether Seattle could advance to the World Series or not (we know how that turned out). Each time we got those four together, we try to casually impart on our kids how special it is.

On Sunday night, all four grandparents got together as my parents hosted us for a lasagna dinner. These photos are priceless.

On the last night here, Sid’s dad had the opportunity to watch our mini Lebron James play some basketball 😂. He attended Beau’s first basketball practice with Sidney and got to experience the organized chaos (or was it just plain chaos?) that it entailed. However, the practice wasn’t the only “first” they observed of Beau during their stay—they also witnessed their grandson losing his first tooth.

Mr. Sid attended Beau’s first basketball practice that took place outside due to it being an optional, kickoff practice.

Most satisfying to me, however, was that my wife got to spend plenty of time with her mom and dad. Sid took time off work and had the privilege of hanging with her parents while I was at EWU and the kids were at school. She deserved that.

This is probably my favorite photo of the visit. You can see the happiness on Sid’s face that she is with her parents.

It never gets easier saying goodbye to Sid’s parents. However, I feel blessed that we continue to make memories with them. If not sooner, we will see them again during the summer and we are already counting down the days. Don’t Blink.

My Favorite School Nurse

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For those of us lucky enough to have one at our school, you probably still remember this person. They saw us at our worst and did their best to straighten us out.

No, I am not talking about the detention teacher.

Rather, I am talking about the school nurse. On those days where our stomachs felt sick, our heads pounded incessantly, or our knees left some skin on the black top, we could depend on the school nurse to help us feel better (or at least give us a one-way ticket home to watch TRL).

School nurses weren’t just reactive either—they screened for ailments before we even knew anything was wrong. Hearing tests, lice screenings, and scoliosis checks, anyone? Always busy, overworked, and underpaid, the school nurse was definitely an MVP in the schools I attended as a youngster.

But despite the stellar nurses I had in the schools I attended, there is someone else who I prefer. My favorite school nurse is my mother-in-law!

My mother-in-law is my favorite school nurse!

Brenda started her career as a general practitioner nurse. When my wife was 4, my mother-in-law made the transition to the Marion (South Carolina) school system. However, I don’t know if “transition” is the  right word because there was nothing to transition to. You see, Marion didn’t have a school nursing program…

So Brenda created one from scratch.

After building and establishing a nursing presence in the Marion County School District, Sid’s mom would eventually work for Horry County Schools. By the time she retired in 2018, my mother-in-law had devoted more than 20 years to nursing in schools. One can only imagine how many students and staff members she treated.

Although she is now retired, my mother-in-law is still very active in the community as she lends her nursing talents to various causes. She is also the perfect “personal nurse” to my father-in-law, all her children, sons-in-law, and grandchildren. It goes without saying, thanks to Brenda, we were all in great hands at Disney World. 😉

It sure was nice to have our own personal nurse with us at Disney World.

The Wednesday of National Nurses Week (May 6 – May 12) is always reserved for National School Nurse Day. Take a moment to remember the school nurses you had growing up and perhaps do something special for the nurse currently serving at the school where your children attend. Much gratitude to my mother-in-law for the incredible impact she made in the lives of so many. Don’t Blink.

Sweet Summer Visit From Sid’s Parents

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For over 10 years, the somewhat mischievous thought has floated through the heads of both Sidney and I. Whenever my parents and siblings left Myrtle Beach (when we still lived there) or when Sid’s parents left Spokane, we always held out a long shot hope that perhaps their stay would somehow be extended. Well, for the first time since we started dating, the improbable happened…TWICE!

We were blessed to have an incredible (and extended) visit from Sid’s parents.

The summertime visit from Sid’s parents was so fun and enjoyable that fate felt the need to continue the good times for several more days. Due to the CrowdStrike incident, my in-laws’ Saturday flight was canceled and re-scheduled for Tuesday. At about 11:30 p.m. on Monday, we found out the Tuesday flight wasn’t happening either. It took a Wednesday night flight on a different airline for Sid’s parents to escape our grasp 😉. The extended stay gave us about 108 extra hours to truly appreciate how nice it was to have our kids’ “east coast grandparents” under our roof.

Thanks to CrowdStrike, Sid was give more time to enjoy extra laughs with her dad.

Before I mention some of the special moments we had with Sid’s parents, it is worth noting how their trip coincided with historic events. Sidney and Brenda Mathis arrived on Saturday, July 13, and attended my nephew’s birthday party that afternoon at the YMCA. While watching their grandkids splash in the facility’s pool, news broke that Donald Trump had been shot. The following weekend, President Joe Biden would announce that he would not seek re-election. Needless to say, while we spent many nights playing board games at the kitchen table, the faint background noise of a news broadcast was usually audible from the living room.

What a blessing it was to host Sid’s parents during summer in Spokane.

And to add even more context to their visit, it was really hot. Like 100+ degree hot for several of the days they were in Spokane. But here is the crazy thing: my in-laws said it didn’t feel nearly as nasty as Myrtle Beach even though the daytime highs in South Carolina were routinely 15 degrees less than Spokane. They were pleasantly surprised that even with the extreme temperatures they could still depend on mornings and evenings that cooled down to the high 50s and low 60s. They didn’t miss the suffocating humidity and nagging rain of the Grand Strand one bit even though we reached temperatures that are uncharacteristic for the Inland Northwest.

Because it was so hot, we spent a lot of time around water. This photo shows Beau hanging out in the boat we rented while Sloan, Sid, and Mr. Sid are visible splashing around in Lake Coeur d’Alene.

So although my in-laws’ July 2024 visit will always be remembered partly by unprecedented historical moments and intense heat, the memories made over the past 10 days could have easily stood on their own.

The moment Sloan and Beau saw “Gami and Dada” after they got off the plane at the airport.

We picked up our special cargo on an early Saturday afternoon. Sidney took her parents out to lunch while I drove the kids up north to their cousin’s birthday bash. After they ate and dropped their luggage off at our house, my in-laws joined us at the YMCA pool. “Gami and Dada” marveled at how their grandkids had progressed in the water, kicking off a solid beginning to what would be a memorable visit.

It felt awesome for all of us to re-unite again.

The following day, the six of us ventured across the state line to Idaho for the Post Falls Festival at Q’emiln Park. We visited vendor booths, ate delicious festival food (my father-in-law ordered a massive elephant ear), watched the kids play on inflatables, and admired the Spokane River. This particular day would also begin the many evenings of kitchen table games that included favorites such as Phase 10, What Do You Meme, and Speed.

Now that is what I call an elephant ear! The Post Falls Festival was a lot of fun.

When Monday rolled around, Sloan and Beau spent time exclusively with their grandparents as Sid and I returned to work. They played with each other, went to the park, and even exercised together. Yep, Sloan and Beau were invited to accompany Sid’s parents on their daily walk.

Mr. Sid and Beau playing “What Do You Meme?”

Once Wednesday arrived, Sid was off work for the week. She took everyone to the Southside Aquatic Center, a beautiful swimming oasis on Spokane’s South Hill. They had so much fun that they would return the following day as well.

That next day, Thursday, proved special beyond just the pool. After I finished work that evening, the six of us traveled up north to my parents’ house. It was there that we ate steak in the dining room followed by strawberry shortcake on the back porch. But again, it wasn’t the food that made it a memorable night. Rather, it was the rare opportunity Sloan and Beau received to be around their four grandparents at once. I know my children don’t realize the significance of how unbelievably cool that evening was but one day they will. After dessert, we all walked across the street to the park and enjoyed being in each other’s company. It really is heartwarming how well my parents and Sid’s parents get along.

Sloan and Beau spent Thursday evening surrounded by all their grandparents.

On Friday, I did something for the first time. In a spur of the moment act, I decided to take off the afternoon by putting in notice just a couple hours prior. But how can you blame me? Sid came into my home office around 10 a.m. and said they had rented a boat on Lake Coeur d’Alene and that she would love for me to come. We traveled back to Idaho, ate at an awesome local hamburger place, and then hit the water. We cruised for several hours while making several stops to jump into the water on another triple-digit day. It was one of the highlights of the trip.

Beau “drove” the boat for “Dada” while we were on Lake Coeur d’Alene.

Saturday morning was tough. Beau and I left the house for a church engagement followed by a birthday party. We gave our farewell hugs and expected to come home later that afternoon to just Sid and Sloan. But as I said at the beginning of this post, CrowdStrike had different plans. When we arrived at the house after the party, Gami and Dada were waiting for us after returning from the airport about an hour prior to our arrival.

Thanks to fate, Sloan got to spend a few more days with both of her grandpas in town.

Even though we had so much fun during their scheduled week with us, it still felt like a second chance to bond even more. That afternoon/evening we played games and hung out with an even greater appreciation for the extra time we had together. On Sunday we just relaxed, followed the Joe Biden news, played more games, and then had a chicken bog dinner that my parents attended…another chance the kids had to be around all four grandparents!

Sloan and my mother-in-law had the chance to make cookies together.

When the new week started, it was back to work again for Sid and me. This allowed my in-laws to have several more hours with just them and the kids. By the time the work day was over, we were back to what had become the norm during the evenings: games, puzzles, and laughs. Sid made a pork loin dinner on Monday that capped about 10 straight days of delicious food. Before we went to bed, the kids said their goodbyes again as we prepped them that Gami and Dada would be on an airplane by the time they woke up in the morning. But then it happened again shortly before midnight…Brenda received a notification from Delta that their flight was canceled and, just like that, Sid had her parents through Wednesday night. We all said, WE’LL TAKE IT!

My mother-in-law and Sid work on a puzzle last night.

Tuesday and Wednesday were both nice and low key. My in-laws played with the kids outside, took them to lunch at McDonald’s, made a trip to the Dollar Tree so Sloan and Beau could purchase them gifts (the idea of my children), embarked on a Target run, and more. At night we played cards, watched “Big Brother,” and ate ice cream. Eventually, the kids and I had to say goodbye for the third time 😔…

Sidney dropped her parents off at the airport this evening so they could catch their midnight flight. CrowdStrike wasn’t going to extend their trip a third time. But it was okay, because even though it was still sad, we were all so grateful that not only did we maximize our scheduled week together but we also got some bonus time none of us were expecting. We feel blessed that we had the chance to host our two very special visitors and we are already counting the days until we get to see them again. Don’t Blink.