We had a great weekend with my parents in town. Granted, the reason they were here was a little sad. My great-grandmother passed away last week. She would have been 100 years old in July! Her funeral was Friday so the kids and I drove out to Pennsylvania for that. It was very nice and I just loved the ‘eulogy’ my mom’s cousin did for Grandma Helen. She wrote such a vivid poem that I could recall many stories I heard about Grandma Helen’s younger years – her quilting and crocheting, teaching the grandkids how to clean a fish, and how she wasn’t afraid to cut the head off a snake. I asked for a copy of the poem and I can’t wait to get it to put with our family history.
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After the funeral we went to Grandma Helen’s house where my great-uncle Willard now lives. I have great memories of family get-togethers at that house . . . a lot of laughter and playing. It was great to see my second cousins and the older folk that I remember as a child. Most of them are as colorful as ever and just kept me laughing or shaking my head. There’s never a dull moment with them!
I loved that some of the kids put together a ‘stick ball’ game in the yard – such great memories . . . and helped my kids build some of their own.
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That evening my parents followed us back home only to stop part way home to take a picture of a cool train station I had seen on the way in. My dad told me this was actually the train station that my grandma came into when she came over from England to be with my grandfather (who she had married during WWII in England). Such rich history in that part of Pennsylvania that I continue to learn about!
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My parents spent a fun-filled but not too hectic weekend with us. They were able to attend Caleb’s Cub Scout Cake Bake where he took the prize for Judge’s Choice with his pinewood derby car cake.
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We also took them to Hannah’s tee-ball game on Saturday. Before Hannah would go up to bat she’d make sure they were watching her and look for their reaction after she was on base or after she got the ball.
Cami, however, never really warmed up to them but she did allow Grandpa to read her some books, as long as she didn’t have to look at him or answer any questions.
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Knowing last night was their last night with us, the kids didn’t want to go to bed. They egged Grandpa on (which doesn’t take much effort) to tell any stories he remembered of me growing up or any of when he was growing up. This put Hannah to sleep but the older two were eager listeners. I wish I would have taken a picture of Emma’s face as she sat and listened to Grandpa tell his conversion story into the LDS church and then followed that up with getting back in touch with the friends who introduced them to the Church only to find out they were distant cousins to Chris’s dad. Emma was only a few feet away from Grandpa’s face, staring into his eyes as he told the story, and the only facial feature that changed was her smile, which only continually grew larger. Grandma and I were trying so hard not to laugh. But, it didn’t take long for Emma to realize if it wasn’t for someone in Chris’s family introducing my parents to the Gospel when I was 4 years old, Chris and I would have never met at BYU. Needless, to say she was so excited!
Sadly, this morning came and Grandma and Grandpa had to leave. Our house now seems empty – such a sad feeling when visitors leave. But, we were glad to have them for the time we did!
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