Week #34:Saying Goodbye to Grandma

This week we...

...said goodbye to Grandma Wilson. She is moving to Utah. They are selling her house in Yakima and she will be living with my Uncle Karl and Aunt Maxine, my dad's half brother, in Utah. 

Karl, Evelyn, Dad

I know I have posted before about the sporadic nature of our visits to my Grandma over the past years. We would usually try to go at Christmas time with the whole family, but any other visit was of our own making. And then it probably never happened because we just wouldn't make it. As my Aunt and cousins hugged Grandma (the ones that she had lived by and with for the last 30 years), I started to cry. They were crying, and so sad to see her go. Their grief seemed more real because they had lived so close and been around her. 

I felt something different. I felt the loss of what could have been and what now can never be. I could have visited more. I could have called more, written more, been around her more. I wanted to ask her more about her life; what it was like; what she was like. We used to say "We're just not that close." But now we never will be because she's gone. I will not have those easy opportunities to go and see her anymore. I remember this quote from President Monson in a General Conference (turns out it was from way back in 2009). This is totally what I am feeling:

...[W]e should not let them [stresses] get in the way of what is most important—and what is most important almost always involves the people around us. Often we assume that they must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. Wrote William Shakespeare, “They do not love that do not show their love." We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us.

Send that note to the friend you’ve been neglecting; give your child a hug; give your parents a hug; say “I love you” more; always express your thanks. Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved. Friends move away, children grow up, loved ones pass on. It’s so easy to take others for granted, until that day when they’re gone from our lives and we are left with feelings of “what if” and “if only.” Said author Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone.” (bold type added for emphasis)

I really felt the words of this quote as we drove away from my Grandma's house. I will not ever get that time back. 

...made muffin tin crayons. It was so fun! I was addicted and didn't want to let the kids help me. It was so fun to use up all the old and broken crayons. I was about ready to just throw them all away. We mixed and matched the colors to make our own unique Reese's-peanut-butter-cup-like crayons.

 Broken Crayons

 Broken Crayons in muffin tin

 Box knife: secret weapon in getting the wrappers off.

(cut down the seam of the wrapper-so much easier)

 Broken crayons in muffin tin, melting

muffin cup crayons, solid colors

muffin cup crayons, eclectic overload

Lainey happily drawing with muffin cup crayons

...made guns. We got these snap together toys from our friends and the kids had a lot of fun playing with them. They especially liked making guns. Lainey was so funny with her gun and her gun noise. It was almost like a "pff, pff." We had a good time pretending to die for her.

 Look at that form!

 There's her lips in "pff, pff" action.

Emma played a great dead person.

...had fun with homemade geoboards. I was part of a busy bags craft night and we chose to make geoboards. Ok, I decided to make them and Jason said he would help me. They were pretty easy to do, if we could keep the nails straight. They were a big hit with the kids. They loved making different shapes and designs. 

Emma thought we needed our picture taken.

A couple of Emma's designs

Week #33:Back to School Nails

This week we...

...took our friend Danica with us to the river. Yes, we go there often if you haven't noticed. We had a blast as usual. I love the whole back and forth from bank to river, bank to river as the kids try to stay clean of the sand. It's a perpetual sand nightmare. On this trip the kids discovered the art of collecting rocks and stuffing them in any and every available pocket. 

...saw Emma pampered with a back to school pedicure and manicure. A friend in our ward is a nail technician. So one vinyl- for-nail-art trade later and Emma is hooked up. It was fun to see all the fun colors and combinations. I don't know that they'll last until the start of school, but it was still fun.

...found more milk messages in Lainey's spilled milk mess. Lainey took the cap off the milk jug and tipped it over to pour milk into her cereal bowl. Only, the jug got stuck flat on it's side on the table, gushing milk in the bowl and all over. I was freaking out! She was freaking out! She couldn't get the milk jug back upright. She filled her bowl alright and spilled milk over half of the table. I wasn't going to take a picture because I couldn't believe that much milk was wasted. I wasn't, that is, until I saw the heart milk-message in the milk as I went to swipe my wash cloth over the mess. I just had to then.

...went back to the Columbia with our cousin Alex. Emma got to go spend several days with her cousin, Grace, in Selah. Well as you can imagine, that made Paul feel pretty bad that he was stuck being the second child and not able to do that many things. So we called up a cousin of our own. :) And then we went to the river. Two things that will cheer us up every time.

 Alex skipped a rock

Paul: "Holy wave maker, Batman!"

...made more apricot nectar. I have to say that I was hooked on making nectar this year. It was fun to squish them in the Victorian strainer and easy to fill the jars and water bath.

...sampled the BEST homemade ice cream I've had in a long time. Aunt Shawnee and Uncle Bill were in town this weekend and we went over there to celebrate Bill's birthday. Shawnee made homemade ice cream with salted caramel sauce. It was divine. Ben and Claire especially loved licking the ice.

This one made me laugh.

Week #32:Surprise Visitors

This week we...

...had some surprise visitors and house guests. It was so fun! The Smiths, our neighbors from our days in Ellensburg, came through on their way to a family reunion. We were so glad that they stopped here on their way. We went to the river, watched the Olympics, and then went to the free movie the next morning before they headed on their way. Thanks for staying at the Erickson Hotel. Come again soon!

 It was fun to be around Blake with the cutest voice, Cade who actually played with Lainey and made her laugh, and Oneil who has a killer smile.We moved when Blake was just a baby, so we don't know the younger ones all that much.

Corgan and Lily are the two we remember most from our Ellensburg days. All the kids quickly made friends and played well together.

...took Paul in to get his cast off. He was so excited to get his cast off and be able to swim. He made plans to go to the river without really checking with me or Jason to see if it would work out. 

All the cool signatures he got

Our cool nurse cutting the cast off

...we went swimming somewhere special on Wednesday. Can you guess where? At the river! We had our cousin Katie with us...and it's just a given that we would go to the river. Right? Right. The river has been so low, which creates a great bank for the kids to play. It wasn't too hot, but just right. We wanted to stay longer. Sigh.

 Here's my cute little group

 I told you Paul is really enjoying the water. He isn't deterred by the frigid temperature, he just jumps right in and acts like he's making up for three weeks of lost time. Oh wait...he did lose three weeks swimming time. 

Paul: "Claire, you're not supposed to go in the water."

Emma: "You better ru-un!"

...made a splash at a birthday party. Our neighbor Danica turned 5 and invited us to celebrate with her. They had a bouncy house with a slide down into a pool. That was THE hit of the party. They had pizza, pop, and cotton candy. They had a pinata and treat bag to go. What more could they ask for? Nothing. They loved it all. Lainey was cute as she made friends with everyone there. She's good at breaking the ice with people; we just talk about her.

...attended our first, and possibly last, ever hunting/fishing themed wedding reception. We went to Moses Lake for the reception of my first cousin, once removed. (I finally figured out how the removeds work.) The bride and groom both enjoy hunting and fishing. In fact, the bride has more guns than the groom. We visited with family at the reception, ate the Swedish fish and gummy worms, marveled at the wedding cake with the groom sitting on top fishing for his bride with a wedding ring as bait, and then decided it was time to leave. But we didn't go home, not yet. You can't go to Moses Lake without also going to Chico's, so we did.

Grandma Wilson (Dad's mom), Aunt Evelyn (Dad's sister), & Dad

Jordan showing off in front of the great hunting decor

He offered a piggyback ride,

and she couldn't resist.

Lainey finally warmed up to Jordan, 

sitting with him and playing all night

Lainey discovered the window where

you can watch them make the pizzas.