The 4th of July

We went to visit Darrell's mom, his sister and her family the first part of July.

Excited kids on the shuttle from the parking lot to the airport.





 I love that we were there over the 4th of July.  We were able to participate in the  annual neighborhood 4th of July kids parade.

Lining up (Notice the flag and speaker contraption in the forefront of the picture.  I think it lead the parade blaring patriotic music.)





Walking in the parade.



The parade route was a few blocks long and ended at a city councilperson's house where there was donuts, juice and milk provided for everyone.

 

After the parade we went back to the house and the kids got to open some new toys to play with at Grandma's house.

 

 

 

Enjoying lunch out on the patio.  Megan (yes, we have a nail biter on our hands), Tyler and Emily







Brenda, Steve, David and Matt came over for dinner.  The kids loved playing with them.











Poor Matt didn't know what hit him!  The kids had a blast playing with him.

 

Happy Birthday Dad!

A BIG Happy Birthday shout out to my dad!



We love you!

Family reunion

At the end of June we attended a reunion for my mom's family reunion.  I love family reunions and being able to see my grandpa, aunts, uncles, cousins and my cousins' families.  The kids loved playing with cousins.

The reunion was at my uncle Dennis' house in Idaho.

 

 











My parents got us hotel rooms during the reunion.  Here are the girls getting a late-night snack of pizza.  And Tyler is plumb tuckered!





In the morning we went swimming at the hotel pool.

 

 Then we headed back to the reunion.  It was really hot--nearly 100 degrees.  The kids loved the slip and slide.

  

If there's a dandelion to be found, Emily will find it and pick it.  I've received several of her offerings.

 

We had lots of tents to provide some shade for the visiting.

 

 The kids loved the duck pond.  They got candy as the prizes.

 

 

 

 

 

Water balloon volleyball.

 



The last day of the reunion we went to church with my uncle.  I love this picture of the cousins in their matching skirts. (Emily, Aubrey, Megan and Olivia.)

Cousin time!

The kids and I headed home to my parents' house a day and a half before my grandma's funeral.  The kids loved hanging out with their cousins.





Practicing singing "I am a Child of God" (Daniel, Aubrey, Kyle, Laura, Tyler, Emily, Olivia, Megan)



A ride in the back of the pick up to see the chickens, sheep and pigs and Greg and Brooke's house









Checking out Kimberly and Sage's new camping trailer.  (Olivia, the Egyptian)



The cousins' traditional sleep over at Grandma's house







The girls zonked out on the way home after the funeral.

Grandma

 

My grandma (my dad's mom) passed away in June.  It really was a blessing.  She was 95 years old and had had a declining quality of life for quite a while.  She was suffering from dementia and couldn't remember who people were or what her previous life had been like.  (She thought she used to own a store and that she made and sold many of the things around her house at the "store".)

So, even though those are of the realities of Grandma's life in 2013, I very grateful to have many, many memories of her living a full, blessed, happy life. 

Grandma was spunky and had a twinkle in her eye.  She used to sew and paint and make yummy, yummy meals. 

Some of my favorite memories of Grandma include:

Her yummy cooking.  I especially loved her strawberry pie, her potato salad, her cream-filled cupcakes and her yummy cookies (stored in Tupperware.)

Family reunions each year--camping, going to the Playmill, picnics at Howard Springs in Island Park.

Hearing her tell how she got in trouble for spelling the word "up" when she was in first grade.  She spelled it and then said the word. "U...P...Up"  which sounded like "You pee up."  She laughed and got in trouble so she was put in closet as punishment.  She found a wind-up phonograph in the closet and wound it up and got in even more trouble.

Grandma came to all my important events in life--baptism, high school graduation (all the way in South Dakota), college graduations, when I entered the MTC and my wedding.

One summer my cousin Marc and I spent a week with Grandma and Grandad.  She was such a good sport about refereeing  our preteen arguments.  And as far as we know, she never did find out we called a bunch of 1-800-numbers to prank call them.  But we were scared out of our minds whenever the phone rang because we were SURE the companies were calling back and boy, would we have been in trouble.

Traveling from Idaho to South Dakota one summer with her and Grandad listening to Kenny Rogers' greatest hits.

Once when I was 10 or so, Grandma commented on how much she loved the thank you card I had sent her for a birthday or Christmas gift she had given me.  She said she was SO impressed that every single word was spelled correctly.  That has always stood out in my mind that Grandma thought I was a good speller.

During my college years Grandma would sometimes catch a ride with Greg and me as we headed home to so she could stay with us during our brief break.  I always enjoyed hearing her talk about when she was young.  

Many times I would travel by myself to visit my parents.  Upon heading back home, I'd always call Grandma about 5 minutes from the town where she lived and see if I could stop by and see her. Of course she always said yes.  I loved those one-on-one visits with Grandma.

Grandma was a widow of almost 22 years.  I'm sure there was a joyous reunion in Heaven with Granddad.  Here is a picture of them at their 50th wedding anniversary celebration.




I'm so grateful Grandma got to meet Tyler, Emily and Megan. All of the great-grandkids call her Grandma Great, and my kids are no exception.  They still sometimes ask me questions about Grandma Great.

Here she is with Tyler at the family Christmas party, Dcember 2008.  He fell asleep in her arms--so sweet.




 

 Here is when Grandma met the girls in June 2010.  She kept asking me if they were twins over and over.  =)



 And here is the last time we saw her--last Christmas at her house.  She didn't know who we were, but she sure was happy to have visitors.




Grandma's funeral was really nice.  It's always great to see aunts, uncles and cousins.

The great grandkids sang "I am a Child of God." This is a picture of the great grandkids singing.  There was a little "drama" during the actual singing during the funeral.  Tyler thought it would be fun squish the girls.  I was leading the song from a nearby pew and had to snap my fingers to get his attention and thankfully he stopped.



We (the grandkids) sang Michael McLean's song "Together Forever Someday."  It is the same song we sang at my grandpa's funeral almost 22 years ago.  This isn't a picture of all of us, but I'm grateful to have it.  (Angela, me, Kimberly, Jennifer, Logan, Greg, Cole, Brock, Katelyn and Derek.)



The grandsons were the pallbearers.  (Greg, Derek, Marc, Brock, Nathan, Logan, Cole and Scott L.)
















I'm so grateful for a knowledge that family's are forever and that I'll get to see my grandma again.  I love her so much.