My Grandmas

My two grandmas live in Utah. Both are widowed. I try to call often to talk with them. I called both of them today and spent about an hour on the phone. It was so good to talk with them. I thought I should blog about them, because I love em and am glad they're my grandmas.

I took this picture when I visited her in the freezing cold winter, when Kaylen was 4 months old. Grandma loved Kaylen and wanted to hold her as much as she could. She kept calling Kaylen "my angel."

This is Grandma B, who lives in Salina, a very small town that has one traffic light at "the" intersection in town. My grandpa passed away while I was pregnant with Spencer (9 years ago). It was really tough for me. I was very close to him. My grandma is a tough lady to be able to deal with it. I know she misses him dearly. It's hard to talk with her about him, because I can tell how much she loves him and can't wait to be with him again.

Things about Grandma B:

1. She has no dishwasher, air conditioning, dryer, computer, DVD or CD player.

2. She is a very good housekeeper. While visiting during the summer, if we'd wake up and go to the bathroom, she would sneak in and make the bed before we'd even have the chance.

3. She is well-known in the family for making raisin cookies, pistachio pudding "salad," and macaroni salad.

4. She is very frugal. She saves and reuses anything she can, including cups from Burger King.

5. Her favorite song is "I Believe in Christ." When I was younger and would practice the piano when she was visiting, she would sit beside the piano and request me to play that song.

6. She remember birthdays and always has a card and money on time to the birthday person.

7. She knows how to can things. Her and Grandpa would always can the veggies Grandpa would grow in his garden.

8. She has a strong relationship with her brothers. I think that has been the biggest reason she's doing ok without Grandpa.

9. She wakes up at the crack of dawn, sets her hair, and does her chores. She has a set schedule to follow. Her hair has to be perfect if she goes anywhere - she'll wear a hairnet to ensure that.

10. She loves Pepsi (caffeine free). She'll have half a can in the morning, and the other half in the afternoon.

11. She always has Creamsicles for us when we visit.

12. She's very organized and knows where everything is.

13. Every Memorial Day, she drives an hour to the cemetary to decorate the graves of loved ones.

Last summer the kids and me were able to visit her. (I think we scared her - we can be very active!)

Grandma playing with Spencer's slime

This is Grandma S who lives in Cedar City, a decent-sized city. Grandpa passed away when Logan was a baby (4 years ago). She is independent and is doing good. Since Grandpa passed away, she has developed a condition where she has a low white blood cell count and can't be around people because they could be sick and it could be life-threatening to her. Before I hung up with her, she told me to be good. She told me she was being good because she has too much to do here.

Things about Grandma S:

1. She loves her dog - Two.

2. She is involved in doing genealogy. She works in the name extraction program, reading old records from old churches or in different languages. She prepares the names for temple work.

3. Her and Grandpa would drive an hour to St. George every Friday to attend the temple. She has a strong testimony of temple work.

4. She also canned food from Grandpa's garden. She still has some of those items, pretty old, scary stuff now.

5. She can't eat sugar. She does eat other weird food combinations, though.

6. She believes in alternative healing methods.

7. She has tons of stories to share, and is an "expert" on a lot of things.

8. She loves singing.

9. She is a good seamstress. She made each of the grandkids quilts when we got married. She has made other things, like slippery, gold blankets and her version of cabbage patch kids.

10. She makes the best carmels.

11. She used to drive a VW bug.

12. She broke her elbow roller skating with the grandkids, a true kid-at-heart.

13. She is a playful Grandma. She would get down on the ground and blow bubbles with my kids and read to them.

July 2007

This is Eric's grandma, Red (just a nickname). I consider her my grandma, too. She is one of the sweetest people I know. She is very caring. She'll call just to check up on me. She is very giving and is always concerned about others and they're well-being. She does have some health problems that cause her great pain, but no one would ever know because she does not complain and is more concerned about others than herself.

I am so blessed to have these great women in my life. I love each one of them and am proud they're my grandmas.