Grandma

So I haven’t blogged for a while for one reason, and no it’s not because I’m lame.  My grandma passed away on August 18, 2011.  I wanted to write something about her.  I didn’t want to just mention that she died because I was really close to her, but I didn’t know how to convey that.  At the luncheon after the funeral my aunt wanted everyone to write down memories that they had of her.  I thought I would e-mail her some.  Later the thought came to me that I should do the same thing for my blog.  This way I have a way of keeping her memory for my kids, and also a way of saying goodbye.  This is by no means an exhaustive list of my memories, but it is some.

When I was little grandma would watch us when my parents were out of town. One time I was in kindergarten my grandma took me to school.  I remember that I waited until my teacher wasn’t looking and I ran out the outside door and all the way to her house (she only lived a block away). I told her I didn’t want to go back to school and she didn’t make me go that day.  I got to stay with her.

I was in Special Ed in elementary school because I have dyslexia.  I got made fun of a lot.  I remember once at church a boy made fun of me and I got so upset that I got up and ran out of the classroom (are you sensing a pattern here?).  I ran down the hall and strait into my grandma literally.  I was crying really hard and my grandma asked me what was wrong.  I was so upset that she had to calm me down first then I told her what the boy said.  She marched into the classroom and asked to speak to the boy then she took us both into an empty classroom. She asked the boy his side of the story, because if you knew my grandma, she never did things without having all the information.  The boy had not explanation, so she demanded an apology from him and then gave him a good tongue lashing.  It was so nice to have someone to fight for me.

My grandma has eight children and even more grandchildren.  You can imagine that it was hard getting one on one attention with her, or feeling like you where special, but she always made me feel that way.  She is the one who taught me how to drive a stick shift, or standard car.  My dad refused to teach me after I nearly killed him.  My grandma took me out no dirt roads and had me stop and start over and over again.  After I got the hang of that she had me practice shifting up and down, going faster and slower.  At one point I came to a turn in the road and I was in 3^rd gear and didn’t want to shift down so I just took the corner going that fast.  We spun around and did a complete 360 and then the car stalled out.  I looked over at grandma and said “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry”.  She was holding on to the handle above the window and she said “that’s okay honey that’s how we learn”.  She never got mad at me. 

I have never heard my grandma yell, or even raise her voice.  She never swore, and never raised a hand to us.  The most we ever did was sat on chairs.  She made the best bread and jam ever and the best pancakes.  She always made them for us when we were at her house. 

When I was in high school I was extremely blessed to have the opportunity to work with my grandma.  She was the bookkeeper for the family business and I got to do school to work with her.  Every day I would go over to her house and she would have bread and jam for me and we would chat before we started work.  Some days we never even got to the work because we talked so much.  During that time I needed a lot of advice (who am I kidding I still do) and she was the best at giving advice.   She would roll play with me so that I was prepared for conversations with my teachers, parents, friends, or boyfriend.  I never felt judged, or immature (believe me looking back I was).   She helped me to be able to look at other people’s point of view, or see their perception of things without sounding like she was taking their side.  She helped me so much; I know I would not be the person I am without her.  

The advice she would give was always spot on.  I had a chameleon when I was in college and it ran away, really I took it out to the backyard, fell asleep and when I woke up it was gone.  I never found him.  I was really broke up about it, I remember crying to my grandma and she said “I understand you are upset, but it was not a person”.  I thought at the time she was very cold, now after having children and maturing (just a little) I realize what she meant.   There has never been a time in my life when, if I needed her advice she was not there to give it.  I will miss that so very much.

As an adult it was so much fun to be able to talk to my grandma about different things.  Whether it was about books she loved to read, and helped to foster that love in me, and all her children and grandchildren.  She was always letting me borrow books, and seeing how I liked them. We talked about plants and flowers, which we both loved.  We would talk about raising children and I will always remember one of her favorite sayings “all you can do is do the best you can with the knowledge you have at the time.”  She said it is easy to look back at the things that you did, with the knowledge you have now and realize what you did wrong, but there is nothing you can do about it.  I loved hearing her stories about my dad and aunts and uncles.  I loved hearing about her life.  I loved knowing her as a person, not just a grandma, but as a friend.

My last memory of her was two days before she died.  I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to have gotten to visit her that day.  I got to hang out with her for like 5 hours.  I have not gotten to spend that much time with her for a long time.  We talked about genealogy; the new pictures and things she had gotten from her sister. She showed me what movies she was watching on Netflix.  She did a little research to see what exactly being Basque meant.  We played with my kids.  Walked around her flower garden and named the flowers.  Then we picked weeds and raspberries and talked.  I left her adjusting the sprinkler in the garden with my grandpa. 

I am so grateful for my grandma’s life.  I am grateful for her impact on my life.  I am grateful I was able to know her and love her and know she loved me. 

This is one of the last pictures taken of my grandma, and all her "girls" my aunts. 
I stole this from my aunts blog don't be mad Auntie C.

Keepin' Busy

I don't know about anyone else, but this summer has been busy!  I was able to be at home for a full week, which is something I haven't been able to do all summer.  I was able to do a few things.

 This house has an awesome back yard.  We have apricot tree that was and is loaded.  I have no idea what to do with them. 

I feel guilty letting all that fruit go to waste, so I decided to try my hand at canning.  This really sweet woman in my ward came over two different days and showed me how. 

We canned them whole.  The lady just gave me these jars, supper cute huh!

Then we canned apricot jam, yummy.  I had never even tried apricot jam before. Boy was I missing out!

This is it, all I was able to get done.  There are still tons left to pick.  Hopefully other people will come and pick them.  Hint, Hint.

Next I made these cute houses.  Months ago my mom cut these out for me and my friend Shawnee to make.  Yeah, we were just now able to get together and do them.

I think it turned out pretty cute.  Now all I have to do is find a place to put it.

When Allison was here we made these.  What are they you ask?

Ignore the really dorky picture, I blame it in Allison not her subject, because in real life I am hot!

 They are these really cute headbands.  My sister-in law had one she made, it was cuter than ours, so we made some too. 

Redfish 2011

Ah, yes the annual trip to Redfish.  Every year we go, every year we ask ourselves why.  Things have changed since I was a kid.  I don't just mean at Redfish, but with my family.  All my siblings were there with their kids, except Pierce.  My Aunt and Uncle came with all their kids and grandkids, except Betsy. 
It was good to be together.  In some ways it's difficult though.  It's hard to see things that happen, and know there is nothing you can do to change them, or make them better.  People are who they are I guess.  The same goes for Redfish the place as well.  It is hard to see the changes and know there is nothing you can do about them either.

 What I like the best about Redfish, is that some things haven't changed.  The water is still clear as can be, and very cold.

 The beach has changed alot, but the sand is still the same.

 The sun shines hot in the day and the nights are chilly. 

The mornings are always the best for skiing.

 The mountains are still beautiful and Majestic.

 My kids are gaining memories like I did as a kid. 

I have been going to Redfish for over 30 years.

I tried to catch the baby fishies, just like my kids.

 Took little naps on the beach, went to the lodge, played in the water.

I rode my bike, played on the playground, and skied.

 We had wake board and knee board wars.  Fed and chased the chipmunks. 

Sunburned our feet and rode on the tubes.

 Redfish is one of the places as a kid I remember feeling the happiest.

 Now I just hope my kids feel the same way.

  No matter how much it rains, or we yell at each other. 

 No matter who comes or doesn't come. 

I hope it is something that my kids look forward to each year, like I do!

We Won, We Won, We Won, and other stuff

I don't know if you know this or not but Jason and I R-O-C-K in the USA! Okay not so much when you find out what happened, but we still rock.

So clear back in March Jason and I were looking for a new rental house, remember the whole forecloser thing, so we found one but it smelled like smoke.  The geniuses we are, we signed a lease with a verbal agreement from the landlord that we would get our money back if he could not get the smoke smell out.  I should point out here that I talked Jason into it, he never would have done it otherwise.  We are talking $2500.00 we payed this guy. We went through a long process of trying to get the money back, because he never could get the smell out.  We were even okay with part of the money back, but the guy kept jerking us around.  First it he was going to give all of it back, then it was 3 days rent he would charge us, then $1300.00 back, then $600.00.  He claimed he never entered into an agreement like that with us.

Anyway we ended up taking him to small claims court.  We have never had to do something like this before, but we decided that even if we lost we were out nothing, and at least we wasted his time. Then maybe, just maybe he would think twice before trying to cheat the next people.  We however, did not loose, WE WON!  The judge totally saw right through this guys lies and sided with us.  Sure the guy can appeal, and probably will, because that is the type of person he is.  But, today was truly all about Karma as the guy so often liked to say.

In other news:  Jason took the boys to my dad's side of the family, reunion.  I know weird right?  But Jason loves Wildhorse (and my dad's family too) and hiking the trails in that area.  I had to stay home with a sick baby, again....
   

They went backpacking to Boulder Lake.

They had a good time no matter what the pictures look like.

The snow has not melted on a lot of these trails.

I am assuming that those are rocks that they are sitting on.  Either that or my kids chose the only patches of snow left on the bank, and decided to sit on them.

They both loved spending time with Jason! 

And, the scenery  was not to bad either!

First Camping of the Year

"You're sure everything is in there?" "Yeah why wouldn't it be?"
That was the conversation between my husband and I as we drove away from my parents house with my brothers huge tent that we borrowed because ours is now too small. We were borrowing it for the first camping trip of the year with Jason's family at Island Park.

Turns out Jason was right.  That is right people mark your calendars, my husband was right.  I should have checked to see if everything truly was there.  There were no stakes and no poles who needs those.  I know most people would have packed it in, or driven to the nearest Walmart and bought a new one.  Not my husband and his brothers.  Oh no.  Apparently they are related to MacGyver.

With 4 spare stakes, some rope and bungee cords they proceeded to build a tent.

Evidently there was a torrential downpour with complete with hail (I was asleep in the tent so I missed it) but I guess our tent held up pretty well.  Imagine how well it would have done if it had had the poles and stakes.

 The trip was a complete success.  There was fishing and floating the river.

There was eating too much and sleeping too little.  Everything that a camping trip should be, give or take a few poles and stakes.

4th of July 2011

This year we spent the 4th of July in Mackay with my parents.  We had tons of fun.  We had to do fire works with the kids on the 3rd, because we had to drive home on the 4th so that Jason could get to work on the 5th.  I got to visit with my Grandparents, and my Aunt on Sunday.  We got to participate in the local festivities at the park on Monday.  My parents just got some 4-wheelers, so Jason and I took Dillon and Truman for a ride.  I was really upset that I didn't get any pictures of the 4-wheeling adventure, I didn't even think about bringing my camera.  I should have known better.  We saw some pretty amazing sights.

 Can we say twins?  I say this because Beckett is the only one of my kids to get my dad's round head the "Charlie Brown" head.  Beckett really likes my dad for some reason, I don't know why.  I decided that I am going to goad my dad into reading my blog regularly, because he will want to know what I have been saying about him.  I found out last week that he only reads my Uncles blog.  Don't get me wrong my uncles blog is awesome, it has some great pictures, but what the heck.

 Holy cow I don't know about the rest of you but my kids bugged Jason and I all day about when it was going to be time to do the fireworks.  "Is it time yet" "No""Now is it time""Nooooo".  It reminds me of a trip we took in the car recently.

 The Boys really dig sparklers, but Elleree requires a little more persuasion.

 Finally it really was time for the fireworks, and the kids as always enjoyed every minute of it.  Sometimes a little too much.  I swear they have to concept of what fire could do to them.

 Okay so Mackay has the funniest and funnest 4th of July celebration.  At the city park they have a kind of field day.  They have free hotdogs and chips.  They run sack races, have egg tosses, and best of all fish catching.

 Yeah, I mean real live fish.  They fill this big thing up with water and put fish in it.  Then they split the kids up into age groups and let each group have a turn to catch  fish.

 It has got to be one of the funniest things you have ever seen, watching a bunch of kids chase after fish trying to catch them with their hands.  In the older groups if any of the parents try and help the kids, someone from the local fire department would spray them with the fire hose.  Oh good times, good times.

 After catching one you can either keep it or give it back.  We kept ours and had a little grilled fish for dinner.  I say we but I really mean everyone else, because I hate fish!  Also if you caught a fish you got a coupon for an ice cream treat at the local grocery store.  Mackay Rocks!

Then there was our 4-wheeling adventure.  I only have this picture, taken after the fact, of how dirty you get. That is no tan line, that my friends is a dirt line.  That concludes our 4th of July entertainment for 2011.

Boat times

Summer was so late in coming that we have not had much of an opportunity to take the boat out this year.  Like the good mom I am I didn't get any pictures of Beckett's first ride in the boat, but we are going to pretend these are them.

 He is soo handsome!

 Heaven help us.  Did someone say there was a camera.  She literally push Beckett out the way, I had to grab him.

 Good times.

 At least one of my children us the boat for what it is intended for.  Dillon is becoming quite the professional.  I am really proud of him.

 Mister man really does think he is a little man.

It was all just too much for the girl with the gimpy leg.  I really do enjoy spending time with my family on the boat!

Visiting the Family

We took a little trip to southeast Idaho earlier this June.  One of our neighbors from Idaho Falls had a daughter that was getting married, so we took the opportunity to go visit Jason's parents and wish the newly weds good luck.  At the reception, I went up to the son and said "it's good to see you Brandon" and then we walked away.  Jason was like "you know that his name is Brad right"?  Wow my awesomeness never ends!

My friend Katie came to see me in Blackfoot while we were there.  She just had her baby like a week earlier and drove from Rexburg to see me.  Am I loved or what?  Her baby is super cute, and Katie is like the best mom ever!

It was good to visit with Jason's family though! I only got a few pictures of the kids in their huge Maple tree out front. 

 I am telling you this picture had a crow in it somewhere.  We spent a long time trying to get this crow out of the tree.  Kay hates the crows, because they make so much noise in the morning and the tree is right outside her bedroom window.  Turns out crows are really smart.  This crow was mocking us I swear.  Okay maybe crows are just smarter than me and my kids, alright.

 We got a few snapshots of the kids, yes Jason is one of my kids, in the tree.

 Elleree took this picture of me.  I need to ask.....am I getting a receding headline?

 I really do love Maple trees!

This tree is like over 30 years old, and is great for climbing.