Grandparents are the best!

I think it is very important to have the younger generation (our kids) to get to know the older generation (our parents and grandparents). The stories we all heard as kids seem to be new again and very interesting, especially to our kids. Sometimes, the stories they tell have gotten a little fuzzy over the years --and there have sometimes been funny twists on events that did (or didn't) happen many years ago.
I know it can be a little sad to see their memories go, but sometimes it can be a blessing.
My Grandpa Wardle (Harold) is pictured above with the kids. His wife of 60 years or so passed away a few months ago. It was sad for him -- he always asks about where his wife, Louise, is and has to be reminded every 5 minutes or so that "Louise now lives with her parents again -- she passed away a couple months ago". Sometimes he thinks she is just in the other room, or back at home. He keeps wanting to go home but can't live by himself anymore. He has lived a happy, if not somewhat confused life lately, with his wife, in a little mother-in-law style apartment in Bluffdale for the last 15-20 years. But since her death, it just hasn't been possible to continue living there. It's been nice -- I'm sure for the whole extended family to enjoy the pleasure of his company. He has been playing musical chairs, going from family to family, every couple of days. Our kids have gotten to know him better than they have in the past, as we see him now almost every Sunday when we go to visit my parents at their house. The kids love to see him, and he still loves to tease, as he always used to tease us. Sometimes we are not sure if he is teasing or just not hearing well or has a memory lapse. We repeat the names of the kids over and over and he still doesn't get it right. But he loves to watch them play.
Caleb always comes up to him and give him love 'taps' (or punches), just as he does for everyone he knows. Hailey gets frustrated sometimes when she keeps having to repeat her name, but she always gives him big hugs. Jeffrey is always trying to help him out, helping him walk around, helping him out of the car, and just talking to him. He is so patient and loving towards him. My mom, for better or worse is now being confused for his wife, Louise, and I don't think she finds it particularly humorous when he wants kisses from her. Funny, but a little sad - if he is not just teasing her also (probably not).



This is a picture of our family with Tammy's grandma Richens. Her name is Celia. She was born in Beaver Utah and moved to the Uintah Basin after a few years when her dad got a job working as a teacher in Altamont. She married Aften Richens and they raised their 5 children outside of Myton Utah on a farm. Living through the Great Depression, even as a kid, taught them both to be very thrifty, grandma has a hard time spending money on things even if she needs to replace them. Aften died about 5 years ago and until a couple of month's ago, she has continued to live on her own in her house. She just celebrated her 93rd birthday. As you can see in the picture, she has been sick lately and I wonder if she even weighs 85 lbs now. It has been very hard on her to not be in her house and also not attend church every Sunday. The things that I remember most about my grandma, are that she had the best flower gardens. She loved to be out tooling in the dirt all day with them. I also remember that she would go sleigh riding down her hill with us. It was always a lot of fun!



My Grandpa Darwin Olson is also widowed. He has always been inspirational to me. Always a story and and anecdote to share with the grandkids. A war story was common, and in later years there were plenty of stories from his mission to South Africa with his late wife, Margie. I always found those stories fascinating, and his views on life, and how to lead it very sound.
He decided it was finally time to move out of his home where he had lived with his wife and kids for many, many years. Its really kinda sad to see that place go. He had been living on his own there for the last few years since her death.
A lot of memories were had there when we went up to Roy to visit them on a frequent basis. The place he is living in now though, near the Davis County Hospital is very nice. He just seems to fit in very well and brighten the place up. He took us on a tour of the place, and a 'tour' of his little apartment there. It was decorated very well by his sons and daughters to make it feel really like home. Jeffrey was fascinated by all the decorations he had in his display cabinet and all the stuff hanging on the wall. He even gave Jeffrey and Hailey a shiney green volcano rock to take home. They both love the rocks, and I'm sure they will remember him by those rocks.
My Grandpa still has the old cookie jar there on the counter in the apartment with the seemingly endless supply of those yellow creme sandwich cookies for all visitors to enjoy. I never recall a time when I've been at their house and there wasn't a cookie always there for the taking. Gotta love those cookies. The only thing that would make those treats any better is the homemade ice cream that he would always make for us when we came over. I think he must have coined the phrase "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM." He really new how to make memories vivid for his grandkids and I am very grateful that he recorded so many memories with film and written histories. It's a great example for me as live just seems to fly by much too fast!

Grandparents are always the best!