Lynn's Wedding December 2008

We went to Richland, WA in December for our niece Lynn's wedding. It was challenge getting there because we left during one of the big snow storms but we made it safe in sound. We are glad we went, we had a great time and are very happy for Lynn and Blake.

Lynn, Andrew and Natalie

I wanted Wade to take a picture of just the kids and I. He took like six and I think this was the best out of all of them.

Wade and Lynn, can't believe she is all grown up and married.

There was dancing at the reception and Andrew was cuttin' it up. He dragged his Aunt Tiffy out on the dance floor. She was laughing so hard, but I think she enjoyed it.

I couldn't be out down by my sister in law so I got out there on the floor with Andrew and we did the twist. If you want to realize how out of shape you are do the twist, but I loved every minute with my dance partner.

Gotta Love Our Kids

I have been going thru some our pictures and found of these pictures of Andrew and Natalie. It is amazing how you forget how little they were at one time. They are going up so fast, but I still think of them as little.
Andrew and Natalie in the Tulips in April of 2002. This one of my favorite pictures of the two of them.

This was Easter 2002. The only way we could get them to smile was to say "cheez", they got to the point where they would smile but they would be "cheezy" smiles.

This was at Silverwood a couple of years ago. We rode the train around the park and Andrew was in heaven because he was really into trains at the time.

Silly girl in a tire. I can't remember when this was taken but I just love the smile. I can't believe how long Nat's hair was.

This was at Moses Lake last summer. We found a campground there that we loved, it had a pool with a couple small slides that the kids loved. We would spend all day at the pool, needless to say Andrew got a little sunburned on his face. He is still a handsome boy even with a sunburn.

My Grandma

As my post below says I have had my grandma on my mind a lot lately. She was an amazing woman for her time. I have the greatest memories of her and I miss her greatly. Being the only granddaughter she had I will admit that she spoiled me rotten. I am not sure how long she was married to my dad's father but they divorced when my dad was in high school. Back in the 50's (I am guessing here) getting divorced was not the popular thing to do. She worked very hard and did a great job raising my dad. She later re-married my step-grandpa who was hilarious and would tease me horribly. My mom would get upset at my grandpa because he would get me giggling so hard when I was little I would have an asthma attack. My grandma was very fashionable back in her day. I look back at pictures of her when she was young and she was beautiful. When I told her I wanted to go to beauty school she admitted to me that she had always wanted to do that. She would have been great at it but that wasn't a way for her to support her family. When I was little she would lay on the couch and let me put her "make up" on. She would get out her make up and let me go to town. I remember the smell of the loose powder she would use. She was so patient and loving to let me do that. She loved to grow her fingernails long. She always had them painted and looking beautiful. I have tried and tried to get mine to look like hers but I have been unsuccessful. I think the closest I got was when I went thru my acrylic nail phase.
She is a true inspiration to me; she worked in the GM plant in Michigan running a rivet gun on the buses. She would work a long day on the line at the plant and then go bowling. She and my grandpa loved to bowl and they were pretty good. She would send cards to me for every holiday and every one of them would be addressed either "pretty girl" or "brown eyes." I knew she loved me very much. She was not judgmental of me. When I told her I was going to be baptized in the church she was very supportive. Then when I told her I was getting married at 20 she was very supportive once again. She welcomed Wade with open arms. She showed me how to be nurturing and how to have fun. I remember one Christmas after my parents had divorced I was home from college staying with my dad. We got a package from my grandma and it was filled with baked goodies. I remember thinking; she must have been baking for days. But the fact that she wanted to make sure we had homemade treats for Christmas was amazing. She loved to play games; we would play UNO and Aggravation (a marble game) for hours. She was so happy when Wade and I finally got pregnant with Andrew. My mom and I took Andrew to Arizona to see my grandma and my grandpa when Andrew was just a baby. I remember walking into the guest bedroom where Andrew was napping and her and my grandpa were standing there looking over him just watching him. They could hardly wait for him to wake up so they could play with him. My grandma got to spend a little time with Natalie but not as much as I would have liked.

My grandma was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s but ultimately I think she died of a broken heart. My dad died of cancer in 1993 and it devasted my grandma. Then in 2000 she lost my grandpa suddenly to a heart attack. Her heart was never able to mend from these two deaths and all she wanted to do was to be with these two men she loved so dearly. So as hard as it is not to have her here with me I know she is truly happier being where she is now. I hope my grandma is looking down on me smiling upon me. I hope she is proud of the wife I am and the job I am doing raising her great-grandchildren. For those of you who read this and your grandma's are still alive I hope you take time to let them know how much you care about them. That is one regret I have I never told my grandma face to face how much she meant to me and what an impact she had on my life.

Comfort Food

For the past while I have thinking about my grandma Vida Arlene Barger Wagner. She passed away about 6 years ago from Alzheimer’s. She didn't suffer long from the Alzheimer’s which I grateful for. My family on her side was from southern Illinois so cooking was an important part of life. My grandma was an awesome cook. One of the things she made for breakfast was biscuits and gravy. In today’s health conscience world biscuits and gravy are not considered healthy in the least bit. She would fry sausage or bacon and then use the fat from the bacon or sausage as the base. She would put flour and milk in and then let it boil. She would always add a lot of pepper to give it spice.

I can't remember how she made her biscuits, from scratch or from a can. She didn't have a recipe and as I got older I asked her several times how she made it. She would just rattle off a little of this and that and then you had it. I craved her biscuits and gravy for years and was never brave enough to make it on my own. Finally about a year ago I thought I would give it a try. Believe it or not it turned out. I have been making it now for awhile but it is one of those breakfasts we only have once in awhile. Every time I make it I think of my grandma and how happy it makes me to make biscuits and gravy, plus it is really yummy!