My photo
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Monday, December 22, 2008

A little piece of Grandma.

Everyone needs a happy/sad/teary post on their blog, right? Well, here is mine.

Growing up I have so many memories with Grandma and Grandpa Smith. I remember when Kassi and I would sit on their TINY coffee table while Grandma and Grandpa would feed us fruit cocktail...delicious fruit cocktail. They would tell us, once we got older that we looked like little birds with our mouths constantly wide open, waiting for our bite of fruit cocktail.

I remember the MANY times we went on rides. We would load everything up in the little white toyota, Grandma and Grandpa in the front, me and Kassi in the back where the cab was. It was all carpeted and comfy and Grandma and Grandpa would always pack it real nice with lots of blankets and pillows and games to keep us occupied and yummy snacks of course! I remember we would play "I Spy" Yes. I Spy, in the back of a truck just big enough for us and a few bags of fun stuff. Believe me, there was plenty of things to "Spy" :) We would go aaalllll over in the mountains. Different mountains, different parts of Utah, we would drive around and stop here and there to fish, look at beautiful trees/waterfalls/and sometimes when we got lucky, animals!! My personal favorite spot was Lambs Canyon! I would always request to go there!! I am so thankful to have grown up taking part in these adventures and I can thank my Grandparents 100% for passing them down to me. Now, this is a HUGE part of what we do. We absolutely LOVE to fish, LOVE to camp, LOVE to explore. Thank you guys so, so much for starting me with this and teaching me so many things about the outdoors, and FISHING!

I remember after taking our little rides up into the mountains, when we pulled back into Grandma and Grandpa's house, Kass and I would pretend we were sleeping just so Grandma and Grandpa would carry us in the house.

**Story I should/shouldn't share about one of our trips**
It's one of those stories you tell when someone asks you "What is the grossest thing you have ever eaten?" Everyone has one of those stories, right? So, mine was on one of our trips to the mountains. We were at Lambs Canyon :) Grandpa took us on a mini hike and I kinda wondered off just a little bit. I remember going up to my Grandpa and saying "GA PA, look!!! It's WHOPPERS!! :) Next memory is him saying NO! CA CA!! and slapping said "Whoppers" out of my hand. Turns out it was moose poop!! I tell this story because I can always think that I never ate any, right? I mean what little girl would find whoppers and actually try one? None that I know of :)

I remember always picking on my little sister and Grandma saying that one day she will grow up and get me back. haha.

I remember the talks with Grandma. She is/was one of my all time favorite people to go to for advice. She always knew just what to say. She could make anyone feel better.

I remember Grandma always telling me how proud of me she was because of my personality. She said I always thought about everyone else and I could sense people's feelings and I always cared so much. One time she told me I was intuitive. I didnt want her to think that I didnt know what it meant so I hurried and wrote it down and looked it up in the dictionary as soon as we got off the phone. I'm sure I pretended like I knew what she meant. I wish I could remember that part of the conversation. I bet it was pretty funny.

Grandma was such a fantastic cook. Every year for our birthday's she would make us a "birthday dinner" of our choice. Anything we wanted. There was one exception. She wouldn't make enchiladas. She said she didn't know how and wanted it to be a really good birthday dinner. I kept asking, year after year for about 4 years it seemed like, lol. (Poor Grandma) FINALLY, Grandma gave in. She said she would attempt to cook them. We show up for dinner and it smells DELICIOUS!! She takes it out of the oven when we get there and we start to eat. They turned out perfect! So, so yummy!! Her trick? Apparently she had called La Puente prior to us showing up and informed them that she needed a pretty large order of enchiladas...she went and picked them up and brought them home and put them in her own pan...so clever! haha...she admitted it at the end of the night because I told her I wanted those for every other birthday dinner!!

I remember Grandma being one of the biggest Vikings fan ever. She loved football. She wrote down EVERY single game and wrote the scores at the end of the day. I felt so grown up when she let me read the scores to her so she could record them. She trusted that I would read the right scores and I loved it so much. Again, this is something that is now a huge part of my life. We absolutely love football and keep up with all of the games/scores.

There are so many other memories that I am so thankful for :)

My Grandma knew that her time with us was close to coming to an end and she would talk to us about it. At the time I was young and scared. I didnt want to believe her. I didn't want to think of the day when she would leave me. And so I didnt. I prayed and prayed that it wouldnt happen. But it did. It happened right before my graduation. I got the call at school, I was a Senior in Oakley High at that time (In Idaho) and left right away to come to Utah to see my Grandma one last time. It was really, really hard. It still is really, really hard.

Tonight we went to Grandpa's house to visit and get some Christmas stuff he said he and mostly my Grandma wanted me to have. There was a box full of memories. I hurried home and set everything up at my place. I am so excited to have this part of my Grandma here with me, especially during this season and once again, I feel so trusted and so grown up to have these things here with me, in my home. It seems like it was yesterday that Grandma had them in hers. They are all beautiful and I will always and forever remember the little memories that comes along with each and every decoration. If you would like to share these memories, here are the pictures.


My Grandpa told me tonight that Grandma bought 3 of these angels. One for me, one for my sister, Kassi, and one for my mom.

Her wings close over her, or you can keep them open! Isn't she beautiful?

This is so awesome to me. Look at all of my other angels that I had previously bought. She just matches so perfectly :) Good choice Grandma!

I LOVE this Nativity scene in the globe. I remember when Grandma would put this out around Christmas time. We weren't allowed to shake this one. I just love it. P.S. I shook this one tonight...shhh...don't tell ;) I just had to do it! I've always wanted to! It also plays Christmas music, isn't that so awesome?

So pretty!

This little ornament is so great! It is a nativity scene carved in wood! Love it!

This is the one that got me tonight. This is the globe we were allowed to shake with Grandma's help. It is/was Santa and a little boy. It is very old. One of the first decorations I remember my Grandma putting out. One year the little boy became unmounted, lol. My Grandma wanted to just get rid of the globe because it was broken, for some reason I did not want her to get rid of it! I begged her to keep it out. It is/was my favorite globe. Now, I know the reason. It is so, so special to me. Broken boy and all :)

It's snowing!



I am obsessed with candles. Everyone who has been to our house can pretty much tell. Funny that my Grandma/Grandpa picked this Santa candle out for me before knowing this.

This is another one that got me. This is another one of my favorites. If you turn the angel around in a circle, it is a musical box and it sings a Christmas song. We were never allowed to touch this one because of the type of glass it is. (It's the type that finger oils REALLY show up on) Grandma would always turn this one and show us. Now, it is in my house. It is so weird for me to imagine having grown up so much that Grandma's decorations are in our home. So special.

We all love and miss you so much Grandma. Merry Christmas! :)
This was a very long, but necessary blog. I needed to do it. Thanks for reading!

1 comment:

Courtney and Dan Archer said...

Very sweet, Jess!! Love it!! Grandmas are the best.

You might also like...

Custom Search