Lemons, Oranges and Limes

It was Wednesday morning around 10 o'clock that I opened my front door and there on my door step was 2 plastic bags filled with lemons, oranges and some limes.


"What is this," I said to myself?  Who left me these bags of fruit and when?  I know they weren't here last night, so how did they get here and when did they arrived?  


I started to think, who might have a tree and had an abundance of fruit????   I sure couldn't think of a soul....    I took the fruit inside and put them on my kitchen counter and thought, this is sure a nice gift, with fruit so expensive in the stores now days.  I know we will enjoy this nice treat.....


I started to do some house chores and then around 11 o'clock my phone ring....  


"Hello," I said, and then a sweet voice said, "Grandma, this is Teri,"  "Did you find the bags of lemons, oranges and limes, that I left at your door?"   "YES" was my answer.  The mystery was solved.


It seems she had lots of fruit let over from her sister-in-law's wedding and as it was more than they could enjoy, she thought maybe I might enjoy it too.   Yes, I can and what I can't use right away, I can squeeze and freeze for a later day.


They decided to start their trip back home to North Carolina a few days earlier than planned and as they were going by my home "early" this morning, they just dropped their gift off and left...   They didn't want to wake this ole grandma from her sound sleep....  I thought that was sure thoughtful of them, but I would miss saying thank you and giving them some good byes....


They are on their way back home now, but they have plenty of stops planned, this will be a trip and a vacations that the children will remember.  They still have "Places to go, Family and Friends to see, and things to do....."


Thank you Teri, Jeff, Logan, Cooper and Denim, for stopping by..  and when I'm eating one of these nice big juicy oranges, I will think of you....  See you Later......  I love you....

Lunch with my Grandchildren

My Granddaughter Teri and her family have been here for a visit for a little over a week now,  they have been staying with her husbands parents in town.  They made this road trip from their home in North Carolina, with their 3 darling children..  They will only be in town for just a few more days and as I don't have a chance of seeing them too often, I asked them to come for lunch and a visit.


They arrived at my home yesterday around 12 noon.  I was excited to see them, for our visits are far and few between.


It has been about 15 years now since I received that phone call from this sweet granddaughter.  When I answered the phone that morning she said, "Grandma, I've been thinking and praying about what I need to do in my life and I keep getting this feeling that I should come to Utah and finish my education at SUU" and then she said, "Could I come and live with you and grandpa and go to school?"  "YES, you  can" was my reply.


Arrangements were made and that summer she started her move.  She needed to enroll, sign up for her classes and have her transcripts transferred to SUU.


Grandma got busy and fixed her spare guest room up for a college student.  Bought a computer and cleaned out the closet.  "ROOM READY"..


Teri arrived around the first of August, settled in and was ready to go.  


School started, she had her classes, she found the student ward, started making friends, went looking for and found a job.


Now Teri is a very bubbly young girl, full of energy and lots of fun.  It wasn't long until the phone started to ring and dates started to appear.  Soon a tall, handsome, returned missionary with shinning eyes and affected smile was standing at my door...  Wasn't to long until this handsome young man name Jeff, was the only one coming to my door.  Seems Teri and her heart had made a decision.


When the Christmas holidays came Teri went home for Christmas and Jeff made a visit to North Carolina to meet the family.  Things were getting serious.  


Teri returned after the New Year.  School started again and we saw more and more of Jeff.   


It wasn't too much longer until wedding plans were announced.  They had decided they would marry after the semester.  They would be married in the Washington DC LDS Temple, in April.  


Now Grandma had a basement apartment in her home.  Brad was living in this apartment at this time, but we were building him his home a block away and it was almost done.  They wanted to know if they could rent this apartment when Brad left.  I thought that would be great.  I would love having these special grand kids live there, it would be nice having them close by and so that came to be.


Teri and Jeff were married, they lived in our basement until they graduated from SUU.  It was wonderful having them there.  We had lots of visits and lots of good time.


When graduation came they packed up their worldly belongings in a Uhall truck, said their goodbyes and they were off for North Carolina to begin their life and future as Mr and Mrs....


Now 14 years later this sweet young family is sitting around my dinning room table having lunch with Grandpa and me.  


There is Logan who is almost 10 years old.  She's a pretty girl, with dark brown hair like her mama.  She has a pretty smile and is loving and kind.  She gave this Great Grandma lots of hugs and kisses.  She likes to do crafts and things with her hands, like this grandma does.  If I have a chance the next time we visit I will teach her how to do some cross stitching or knitting, or something.


Cooper is a shy young boy, he's 6 now and likes school, he also likes his home and is anxious to get back to his own bed.  After lunch he wanted to go in the sun room and watch TV...  He kept looking at this grandma and I just wondered what he was thinking of me...  I think he was just trying to figure out how this relationship works.


Last is Denim.  He is 2 and a sweet little fellow.  When they arrived he was asleep and Teri took him into the blue room and laid him down on the bed.  He slept the whole time, when he awoke he just looked around and wondered where he was and what was happening.


We had a nice long visit around my table.  It was fun to play catch up with them and to hear about what was going on in their lives.  To hear about their interest, their activities and about their home and the things they were doing to it.


Soon it came time for them to say goodbye.  We took lots of pictures and gave lots of hugs and kisses.  My heart was warm as was grandpa's.  


We had a special lunch, with our grand kids and our great grand kids.  I think I have a special feeling inside because I was there in the beginning.  Jeff had asked Teri to marry him on the steps in my big house on Old Scout Trail....  and because she said yes, we now have 3 beautiful and special Great Grand kids.....


They leave for their trip home in a couple of day.  They are going to make some stops and see some church history sites, and some family members on the way...  Drive safely and have a good time and know this Grandma loves you very much.  Thanks for your visit.....


Hope to see you again real soon..

Cinema Surprise

Yesterday was the 4th of July.

When I was raising my children the 4th was a holiday to celebrate.  Sometimes we would go to the park and have a picnic.  Sometimes we would have family over for hot dogs, potato salad and treats, sometimes we would go to our extend family for their hot dogs and treats, or sometimes we would get together with friends and their kids to just play around and eat...

When we moved to our small town in Utah we would go to the town park. 

There was the kids parade down the main street with their wagons and bikes all decorated up with red, white and blue streamers.  After the parade there was games and food to eat.  When dark came we put out our chairs and watched the fireworks.  What a beautiful sight to see the sky light up with such beautiful colors and designs. 

But now life is on a much slower pace.  Going to the town party, early in the morning to see the flag ceremony and have breakfast and then playing games all day makes me tired......

So instead, this 4th started with a slow pace, with a late breakfast, reading the morning paper and having TV on.

Then about 1 o'clock in the afternoon my sweetheart and I decided to go to the big town, 20 miles away for dinner and a movie.  We called our brother and sister-in-law, who live around the block from us to see if they wanted to go with us.  A time was set, they picked us up and we were on our way.

First we went to Panda Express, for a quick dinner.  Stopped at the drug store for a minute and then we were off to the Cinema.... 

We arrived about a half hour early at the cinema, purchased our tickets and as we approached the door, all of sudden the door open and a tall handsome young man with a big smile said "Hi Grandpa, Hi Grandma".  

There standing at the door was Jeff who is married to our Granddaughter Teri, who lives in North Carolina.....  I knew these grand kids and their children were making this cross country trip.  You see, Jeff's sister is being married,  but I wasn't expecting them to be in town for another day, but here he was.

After the "Surprise"  we gather around and had a special visit...  Soon my little Great-Granddaughter Logan came running up to me with a big smile, wrapped her arms around me and gave me a big hug..  What a treat... Soon the little boys were there wondering who these people were...

Jeff and Teri had made this trip in record time by driving straight through.  They are staying at Jeff's parents home and as this was a holiday, the family with brothers and sisters and parents decided to go to the movies..

Now if we hadn't decided to go to the show, and if we hadn't arrived a half an hour early we would not have seen our sweet little family this day...  This treat was better than watching all the fireworks in the sky.

When it was time for us to go into our show, we said our goodbyes with hugs and kisses.  Received popcorn and root beer from Teri and Jeff, found our seats and enjoy the movie "Larry Crown" with Tom Hanks and Julie Roberts and ate our popcorn and drank our root beer.

When the movie was over, we finished our day with going to Dairy Queen for a ice cream treat... and then our ride home.....

This day turned out to be a very nice and relaxing day, one to remember....

Happy 4th of July,  it was a Great Day.........