Being A Grandma

When I was young I always felt bad I wasn't close to either of my grandmas. I heard my friends talk about their grandmas with love and admiration. My father's parents lived in Weiser, Idaho and so we only saw them once or twice a year and then it was a VERY short visit. They lived on a farm so it was hard for them to get away. I grew to love hot cooked cereal there as my grandma would put fresh cream on it. My grandma Kendall was a very hard worker & I know she loved me, I just didn't know her.  My mom's mom was from Germany and came to the US after my mother was married so she had a very strong accent. My mom wasn't close to her mom, hence we didn't see her that much. I don't ever remember having one of my grandparents read me a story, spend the night, take me somewhere or tuck me in. Because of many of these memories…. "I want to be the grandma I never had." I have so many good examples of grandmas I want to be like in my own family & in my circle of friends. My prayer is that somehow I can make a difference in my grandchildren's life & that they will have fond memories of times together with me.

I've been a grandma for over 8 years now and I love it!! I've been fortunate enough to have Kristy's family and her 4 kids living 2 1/2 hours away. I'm sure most of you know that they're moving to Kansas City, Kansas next month. I'm excited for them, because I know it will be a great opportunity for their family, but I'm going to miss my regular "grandma time." I told Russ I would definitely be racking up the sky miles. Its been nice to have Lindsey be a 3 hour drive from the SL airport in Vernal & Pocatello before that. They are in the process of moving back to Blackfoot next month also.

One of the things I've felt really bad about is I wanted to take Kristy's kids camping last summer and we never did. A week ago I checked the weather and it was suppose to be nice on the Oregon coast so I called Kristy to make sure she didn't mind if we took her kids & hurried and booked us a Yurt to stay in. I also have a great husband who will agree to do these things at the last minute. We picked up Jazlyn, Matsen & Kelston Friday afternoon and headed for the coast.

Aren't these yurts cool!! They even had little heaters in them which was good since it got below freezing at night. This one sleeps 5, but you can get bigger ones.

They loved the smores papa roasted for them. 

Saturday morning we went to the beach in Seaside to see a ship that wrecked there back in 1906. 

You can see how long the ship was.

We went to an old battery from WW2 where the kids loved exploring all the underground tunnels and staircases and where they shot off canons.

We went to Ft. Clatsop where Lewis and Clark spent a winter with the indians.

They had some clothes for the kids to dress up in.

After exploring Ft. Stevens, Ft. Clatsop, the shipwreck and having lunch we drove down to Canon Beach. It was clear, but windy and COLD.

Of course no outing is complete without ice cream!!

Usually these little guys wear me out, but on this trip they were worn out!! We dropped them off around dinner time on Saturday. It was a perfect weekend with 3 of our angels. They were so good and such troopers with all the walking we did. I wish Tytyn could have come. He would have had a blast with his cousins. Hopefully next time!!

As were we driving back home to Washington I snapped this shot out the window of Mt. Hood. 

Here's a poem for all grandma's out there.

"A Grandma is…"

A grandma is someone who spoils you

and takes care of you when mama's not near.

She's always happy to see you

and brings plenty of hugs and kisses to share.

Helps you when your down.

Catches you when you fall.

She'll brighten up your day,

even on the stormiest night.

She'll tuck you in and read you a book,

till your eyes row heavy and tired,

but soon enough you'll see her again,

with bright eyes and smiles.

                                                Valerie Dupont

Parents Visit and Ted's Funeral

On March 10th my parents flew up to spend the week with us. My dad is 85 and my mom is 78. This July they'll have been married 60 years. I'm so grateful they're still healthy enough to come and see us. My sister Delina drove over from Spokane to be with us for the week and picked them up from the airport on her way. We took a couple of days and drove down to Canon Beach, Tillamook and then to Hillsboro to see Kristy and her family.

You never think your parents will get old. After walking a short distance to the beach and back my mom was worn out, but she loved seeing the ocean.

Delina and one of her five sons, Jayson.

You don't visit Tillamook without having one of their ice cream cones. I was soooo disappointed they stopped making German Chocolate Cake!! 

My cousin, Kevin on the far right owns a large dairy farm in Tillamook so he and his wife Annette came over and visited with us while we ate our cones. They milk 600 cows a day!!

My parents were happy to see Kristy and her family before they move to Kansas City:(

The next day we had a beautiful day to walk around the Portland Temple grounds.

They have a new visitor center there that's only been opened for 2 years.

They said they've had over 100,000 visitors since it opened.

Remembering Ted Bingham

Unfortunately we had to cut my parents visit short one day as Lindsey's father-in-law past away after fighting cancer for over a year. Ted was only 51 years old and left behind his sweet wife Kindra and five sons. One of his sons is on a mission in Korea & the youngest is a Junior in HS. Here's a picture of Ted when Lindsey and Tyrel got married 5 years ago. He lost so much weight he probably weighed half of what he did here. He will be truly missed by all those who knew him.

At Tyrel and Lindsey's wedding with 4 of his 5 sons in 2008. Brian was on his mission.

We were so happy we were able to attend the funeral. Kindra and all five sons spoke, including a recording from Dawson in Korea. It was really nice. Ted's brother, Jerry drove his brother to the cemetery in this wagon.

Tyrel, Brian, Logan and Collin.

Notice they put Ted's brand on his coffin.

We did the whole trip in 24 hours. I was so glad we could go and give Tytyn a little one on one time. I'm not sure he knew what was going on the past couple of weeks with everyone's emotions. We watched Tytyn the morning of the funeral while the whole family attended the temple. We wrestled, played on the swing, laughed & played with his toys.When we went to the viewing we had Tytyn with us and I told him we were going to see his grandpa. The first thing he said was, "grandma don't cry." 

When the funeral started he cuddled up on my lap and fell asleep for over a hour.

A BIG thanks to my sister for taking my parents to the airport the next day so we could go to the funeral.

I don't worry about Kindra or her sons. They have been taught well and are hard workers. They have built their foundation on the Savior and have much faith. Remember, cherish those you love as we never know when our time on this earth will be cut short.

Rainfall

Last Fall I bought a rain gauge. I wanted to see how much it really rains here. I brought it in the house a few months back when we had a freeze and it broke the glass. Sunday afternoon, after it had been raining all morning I put it back out. Today is Wednesday…look how much rain we've gotten in three days!! More than Las Vegas gets in a year! I guess that's why its so pretty and green here and why Russ was mowing the lawn last week.

I did  a little checking and here's some average annual rain fall for different cities.

Las Vegas 4"
Seattle 37"
Portland 39"
Salt Lake City 16.10"
Kansas City 39"
Montesano, Wa. 85"  We really could say, "I'm Singing In the Rain" all the time!!