Look who Grandma Loves!

Two of my grandson's and their parents took a summer vacation to the beach recently. I had a request of them (the boys) before they left. I asked them to please write a message in the sand for "Grandma" and take a picture of it and send it to me as an activity for them at the beach.

It ended up being quite the task since the waves kept washing it away before they could snap the picture. They endured and got the job done just like Grandma requested. I love it! How can such a simple thing bring a grandma so much joy?

Time Fly's

I had not realized so much time had past since I had last posted. I've had lots on my plate recently with an unplanned two plus weeks of being really sick, a six day trip out of state, and all of the planning details for a large July wedding.

Being well again makes me realize how thankful I am for my health. The out of state trip yielded a very happy young bride with her finding the wedding dress of her dreams in a bridal shop in Salt Lake City. The details of the large July wedding....still a bit overwhelming.

The trip to Utah also served as a chaperoned trip for my daughter to go visit her fiance in Orem, Utah were he attended school at UVU and plays on their baseball team. I had lots of free time while there while they crammed as many dates into their days together as they could. They had a great week together.

I really enjoyed myself as well. I shopped til I dropped. Ate where and when I wanted to eat. Took in a movie of my choice. Napped whenever I needed a nap. The only thing that got me out of bed a bit earlier that I liked was the pretty yummy and FREE continental breakfast at the hotel!

I had a beautiful view from my hotel room. The mountains in Provo are beautiful and to add to the beauty they were covered with freshly fallen snow! I spent so much of my time looking at the beauty and at the locals zipping by taking care of their business and wondered if they even noticed the beauty around them anymore.

One of my very favorite things were the trees that were in bloom that lined many of the streets. I called them Popcorn trees. I don't know what kind of trees they were but the blooms look just like beautiful white popped popcorn! The trees were just covered in yummy looking white stuff!

One of the Popcorn trees was just outside my 3rd floor window and it was in full bloom. We have a song that the children sing in church that says "I looked out the window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on an Apricot tree. Spring has brought me such a nice surprise, popcorn popping right before my eyes!"

I know it wasn't an Apricot tree but for sure it was a nice surprise and I too saw popcorn popping right before my eyes.

Now it's time for me to look at my natural surroundings. What am I zipping around and taking care of my own business and missing???

Grandma Shelley is Headed to Hollywood

My husband and I just pulled together what we think is going to be a really fun trip. It is something we have never done before. After being unsuccessful at getting a last minute cruise we had hoped for, we decided to head to Hollywood for some Television show tapings. After doing some research on the Internet we have tickets to three shows. 

First on our agenda is The Price is Right. I tried to talk my husband into making ourselves shirts that read "Oldie-weds....Newly-retired" to wear to the show.  No such luck! We have had fun talking about what we would like to win on the show and playing the game of would you rather win this or that questions. I learned he would rather win a new truck over a long romantic trip!

 The following day we are going to the taping of the sitcom Gary Unmarried. We have never seen the show so I hope it is appropriate and funny.  The  following day....can you believe it? Dr. Phil!  Who would of thought I would ever get my husband to the Dr. Phil show. I guess it helps that he won't be on stage. We may also be able to squeeze in the Tonight Show one of the nights.

We lined up hotels using Hotwire to get great deals  and we "mapped quested" some of the restaurants we want to eat at.  It is amazing what you can do from your home computer these days!

Talk about spontaneous....We'll be in Hollywood with about 48 hours notice. Sooooo not like us, but very exciting!

Grandma Shelley's Road Trip to Vegas

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I know this is a bit off of topic for my blog but I wanted to share in another great thing about being a grandma with a newly retired Papa! Last minute invite to go to Vegas. Sure, we have the time....

A recent road trip to Vegas was so much fun. My daughter invited my husband and I to go on a business trip with her. We were more than happy to accept. She offered free transportation in a company rental car and complimentary lodging for three nights in a very fine hotel. 

Each morning we dropped her off for a day of meetings at the Rio and my husband and I kept ourselves busy as tourists until it was time to pick her up. Some of the highlights of our trip included scoring half price show tickets, a breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffet, and touring the beautiful hotels and casinos. 

Our last night was so much fun. We picked up our daughter after her meetings and we headed for the dinner buffet. We chose the buffet at the Paris Hotel since it had been voted the best in Vegas for the last 3 years. We were not disappointed. It was a beautiful restaurant and the food was delicious and plentiful!  We then hit the streets on foot to walk off our dinner and we toured the nearby hotels, casinos, and shopping. We really enjoyed the F.A.O. Shwartz Toy Store. We lost track of our time in there looking at and playing with the toys. They had a piano keyboard on the floor like they had in that Tom Hanks movie. My husband and daughter showed off their piano and coordination skills as they played some pretty impressive tunes with their feet.

One thing we really noticed in Vegas was a lot of honking of cars. There were double decker buses honking at hotel shuttles, shuttles honking at taxi's, and taxi's honking at passenger cars! It was crazy. I have never been to New York but I have always imagined the streets of NY being like that. We lost track of how many times we had been honked at for no good reason. It seems they hit their horn each time they have to hit their brakes.

We enjoyed the excitement of the city, the good food, the entertainment, and the sites but most of  all we enjoyed the time we had with our daughter. (I guess I could somehow tie this in as a grandma story since she's the mom of three of my grandsons. ) We shared in some great conversations, we had many good laughs, and we created some lasting shared memories. We enjoyed seeing her in the role of businesswomen and in her excitement for learning new things. It was also very rewarding to see how she kept a constant pulse on what was going on at home with her sweet little family. It was very clear on where her priorities lie.

This was an opportunity for me to just be me, mom, and wife. There were no phone calls home to grandkids, no postcards home,  and no time spent shopping for them.  And somehow, I still had a really great time!

Road Trip to Vegas........A+    I have a very generous and thoughtful daughter!    Thank you.

Little Things That Warm the Heart

My oldest granddaughter is eight years old. I am always so amazed at her ability and willingness to see what needs to be done and to follow through until the task is completed.  She is a big help to her family. I noticed her unpacking and setting up the bedroom for her and her sisters when we arrived. All weekend she was keeping things tidy, helping with the baby, entertaining her younger sisters, helping in the kitchen and at mealtimes, and packing up herself and her sisters when it was time to go.

On this night It was my turn to prepare dinner while on our snow outing. I was in the midst of cooking dinner when they all returned from a few hours of outdoor play. When she came in from sledding she quickly changed her clothes and pitched right in without being asked and set the dinner table. When I turned around and saw what she had done it truly warmed my heart. Not only was she being helpful but the little extra flair that she added with the napkins was a little thing to do but it touched my heart in a huge way.  This little thing was a symbol to me of the importance of my example to the little eyes and ears that watch and hear, then follow.

Papa Time

My youngest grandson was thrilled to have some one on one time with his Papa at the cabin in Greer, Arizona. He too had his turn outdoors all bundled up in his snow clothes and boots. If the little guy wasn't out with the family in the snow he spent much of his time at the low french door windows of the warm and toasty cabin taking it all in from indoors and doing his best to get out any open door.

The girls were anxious to build a snowman with their Papa. One of the girls hollered up to me to please bring them a carrot for the nose and some raisins for the eyes!  I thought the request was adorable. I sent down a carrot and two Oreo cookies for the eyes. They loaned the snowman one of their hats and scarf to complete their project.

What a lucky Papa to have created and shared in these special moments of Papa Time.

A Perfect Snow Outing 2009

I just returned from a three day snow outing to Greer, Arizona with four of my grandchildren and their parents. My son in law treated us all to a very nice stay in two luxury cabins with very beautiful natural surroundings of snow topped roofs, trees,  and mountains.

We enjoyed hours of sledding, playing in the snow, sitting by the fireplace to warm up,  hot hearty meals, cups of hot chocolate with marshmallows, nighttime dips in the outdoor hot tub, and many hours of precious time spent with my grandchildren.  

It was so much fun to share their first time ever to the snow with them. We all had a wonderful time and we did not want it to end. Each night at bedtime I spent some time with the girls in their bedroom until they fell asleep while their mommy and daddy got their baby brother to sleep.

Wonderful memories were made as we snuggled and talked about our day together and our plans for the next day. It was indeed a perfect snow outing, and a very treasured memory was created for this grandma! 

Road Trip

Our family had a caravan of family cars and camping gear on this trip to the mountains. On our way we all went through the In and Out drive through for lunch on the road. The smiles remained during our camping trip but that fresh clean look and smell, not so much!

Camping in the Pines

These little campers were not afraid to get dirty while camping in the pines. Big sister is helping me cook breakfast on the camp stove. The top picture is something I always loved doing as a child while camping. I first told them about how my sister and I would always build houses using rocks or pine cones. We then worked together to make one. The pine cones are the walls which created a living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bath. They played for hours in the imaginary house doing very frequent remodeling jobs.

Around The World at Home

I am preparing to have three of my grandsons next week for 4 nights while their parents travel on business. They are two, five, and seven years old. I have always enjoyed getting my grandkids occasionally for extended stays. I love the way I get to know them when I share their little lives 24/7. I will be doing diapers, bus schedules, homework, laundry, meals and snacks, baths, and bedtimes. 

A few years ago when there was only two of these boys I had them for over two weeks while their parents traveled through Europe on business and pleasure. In an effort to make their stay more memorable and fun I planned our own activities at home to correlate with mommy and daddy's travel itinerary. 

Ahead of time, I went to the library and checked out books from the children's section on the locations and the landmarks that the parents planned to visit. This gave me great pictures and simple wording to share with them. I had prepared projects and activities that related to the place where mommy and daddy were. I included the animals, the foods, and the special things to that culture that would interest a child.

I placed a world map on my fridge and used yarn and a magnet airplane and  train to show the travel routes and the current destination. Since it was a long stay I created a countdown chain made of construction paper to help them count the days until mommy and daddy returned.

I shared some great learning and bonding times with my grandsons and once the parents were home and spoke of and shared pictures of the places they had been the children were familiar with many of them. The gifts brought back were also meaningful to the little guys because they too had traveled the same route through pictures, words, and activities at home with grandma.