Grandparents

I have had many great influences in my life some of which are my grandparents. All of my grandparents have passed away. Ryan has one set of Grandparents still alive. I will share some of my memories of my grandparents.  I was pretty spoiled and grew up close to my Grandma and Grandpa Smith. I remember them coming to the farm almost every day when I was little. It was so fun to see them and play with them. I remember my Grandpa driving me to piano lessons and home when my parents couldn't. One such instance proved a little more exciting than planned when the police pulled us over because my Grandpa was driving on the wrong side of the road. OOPS! I made it safely home but Grandpa soon after wasn't able to drive anymore. My other favorite memory is he would come out and push me on the tree swing in their backyard and just take time to play with me. I loved that about him.
My Grandma Smith was pretty special. I used to sleepover at her house whenever I had early morning basketball/volleyball practice. She had the coolest house ever. She would always make me yummy suppers and we would sit and visit in the living room after. Usually ending with some tv. She loved watching her shows. In elementary school I interviewed my Grandma about the depression and gained such an appreciation for what I have and what kind of heritage I have. During the summerof my high school years I lived in town at my Grandma's so I could get to my Flamingo Hotel job. She was always worrying about me getting enough rest and hanging out too much with my friends. Never fail though she would always have dinner ready and waiting for me after work. She was such a special lady and I am so glad I had the opportunity to live with her and really get to know her.
My Grandpa Thomas I don't remember very much because he died when I was pretty young. He was an awesome fisherman though and I do remember going out in his little silver boat and spending the day fishing. I especially remember my brother Phillip getting the hook caught in my hair.
My Grandma Thomas was a really neat lady. She was super talented musically and I loved that about her. She played the organ well into her 90's for her ward. She also played the violin beautifully. I remember staying at their little house in Donnelly Idaho and walking to the corner store for an "Idaho Spud". It was so fun to go and visit them.

Ryan's grandparents on his Mom's side are the Rand's. I don't really know much about them since I never met them. I do know that they lived in a small town. His Grandpa was a judge in the town. Grandma was a very proper lady from what I gather. I know that they must have been great parents.

This is Ryan's Grandpa(His Dad's side).
We were able to go and visit them when Abby was just over one in Nova Scotia. I learned a lot about Grampy while I was there. He is an expert bird caller and he was calling the crows one morning and I told Ryan I think Grampy has lost it. He then informed me Grampy is skilled at this and he was truly calling the birds.
My other favorite memory was when we went for breakfast with the boys. Grampy goes to breakfast/coffee every day at the same resaurant with the same guys. It was so cute. He was telling everyone that he had his Great Granddaughter with him. Ryan and I were just a sidenote. It was super cute.

Of course we had some fun times with Grammy as well. She is such a sweet lady. She has sent me these two adorable quilts for both of my babies.  One of my favorite memories of her is playing scrabble with her here in Winnipeg. She is like the best scrabble player ever and I was just amazed at how talented and smart she is.  Every Christmas we get two things from Grammy that I love. One is hand painted cards that are amazing the other are hand painted eggs to put on the Christmas tree. They are so special to us and we look forward every year to see what picture is on the egg/card.

I am so grateful to have been blessed with such great heritage and grandparents who are such great examples to me!!