Weren't they cute...so many years ago!

Oldest grandchild, Lynetta, 1971, then first grandson, 1975 Monte, Willy who is no longer with us...1990,
In the middle is Miss Megan, then Ed then Michelle. Those were probably taken in 1994.

Ed when he was just little at Gramma Rubye's and then Calvin, Michelle, Anna Jo and Megs at a family reunion in 1995.

Ohhh, the memories of our cute kids!

First day of school at my new job!

The first part of the weekend

was spent on driving to Custer State Park, South Dakota for my husband's family reunion. I was apprehensive...but it ended up being a time of enjoying each other's company, becoming re-acquainted with those I met 5 years ago at the last and meeting for the first time those I've never seen before.

The drive was about 6 1/2 hours and Gus was a bit put out that he had to share his seat with all our stuff. (Poor guy. 5 minutes into the drive and he is sound asleep.) However, he did find SOME use for the mattress pad!


Here is the cabin we stayed in and the those of the others...



They were nice and cozy and just about like a regular motel room!

...and then there was Uncle David enjoying Gus' company!

So glad the Ellis family made it from Wichita! (David is a retired consultant for Boeing, former pilot and mechanic. He had a liver transplant with major complications a couple of years ago, he is so much like Big Grampa!)

On Saturday, some of us ventured to the trail head of Little Devil's Tower for a wonderfully refreshing and strenuous hike! It took about 30 minutes to drive up...

Here's the first tunnel....is that the rock that fell?
...and the second...

and to the trail head...

and you can't really get the jist of the steepness from this pic, but it was REALLY steep, lol...

and we hikes through crevices...

...and we had to scale some rocks...covered with lady bugs!
Cousin Aaron LOVED them!

The view was spectacular!


...and one hiker even got a call on his cell phone!
Cousin Brian from the San Francisco Bay area is talking about his plans to move into his studio apartment in Boston...he's working on his Masters Degree in Performance recently accepted in the Boston Conservatory of Music. How cool is that??? He's 21.

After we got back down, we enjoyed some good visits with all the family under the "meeting tent". I just called everyone "cousin". What the heck.
...and Scott found the cutest little buddy! Her name is Mia.
After our lunch and some long visits, some of us decided to walk around Lake Legion where the lodge is. It's a small lake, but nice granite rocks!

...and here's some more of those awesome cousins from Kansas, Colorado and South Dakota!
After we finished the hike around the lake, Aunt Eunice (David's wife) the BOOK IT! Lady rode in a paddle boat with her son and grandkids..(.yes, she took over the program in it's infant/second year and made it work. Thanks to her, my kids, and many others, enjoyed that free pan size pizza reward for reading their books in school.) Anyway, she is a wonderfully sweet aunt and gramma! She is the one facing the camera.



Her son, David Jr. brought his 2 kids on a 7 hour trip alone...to see everybody. David Jr. is also a pilot. The kids loved feeding the ducks!

And finally, when we drove to a different lodge for dinner, we had to dodge the dang buffalo! They're huge!



Needless to say, I actually did have buffalo for dinner that night!

The next morning, we had breakfast together, then headed down the road. I only got one family before my dang batteries went dead. Anyway, this is the Calhoun family...at this table you will find a sea diver, an aerospace engineer (rocket scientist!) lab medic, doctor, and the Bostonian Conservatory student.

Umm yes, there are a few brains in this family!

So, this was half the experience.
More to come...with the Memorial Service for Big Grampa...

ttyl!

Home sweet home

with lots of pics! Will write a blog tonight, today is my first official day at my new school!
Woohoo!

Happy Monday!

Headed to

Custer and Hill City, South Dakota for a family reunion. School starts next Wednesday, I guess summer is about over.

Have a good weekend, y'all.

As time passes,

losing Uncle Jerry and mom having to go to the nursing home, I've been looking at old Grover pics again and found a couple interesting ones.

This is Lake Alice school, north of Scottsbluff where they went to school. At that time it was 1st - 10th grade, with about 254 students. Today, it is K-8 with about 81 students.
(Mom wanted to finish high school in Scottsbuluff, and become a nurse but her dad scorned her and told her that she didn't need to go to school. She had to stay home and work the farm with her siblings, receiving no pay. Her 4 oldest brothers went to war.)


Here are some more modern pics. First is a pic of the Grover cousins at the 1st Hulett reunion, summer of '76...before we had our own responsibilities. Then a pic of Greg and Brad, Uncle Jerry's boys, before a concert they went to sing at as Freshmen...(best basses)
Middle row- Warren and Nelly grover, then mom with Milton and Ruth.
Bottom row- Mom and dumby Tom Mannett at Jerry and Marge's with Dan and Goldie. The last pic is of a brother I never met...Clifford and I believe he is buried in Minnesota.

2 of the pics below have been posted before. I love the one of mom and Goldie and the 5 in the Backus River bridge!

And finally, mom sitting there visiting with little Em, her great grand daughter (Rubye's grandchild).

Unbelievable at age 80, mom has about 6 gray hairs.

The nearer your destination, the more it just slip slides away...

Something old, something new...

I believe this is called a box flower because when it is still in bud form, it is almost a square box, with 5 sides, that is, lol.
And it opens to a beautiful blue flower.




New old house and new flowers. I just picked this perennial up yesterday, it's called Peppermint Twist, and rightfully so!

And I still have this little hen, but now she has her "chicks" to protect!
BTW, the hen guarding the hen and chicks patch is borrowed....

Looks like a photo...

My father-in-law's latest pastel that he is submitting in a contest. It's of the Green River, the part he floated last spring in Utah.

Three things about today:

1) Megs is coming over for dinner tonight...now which one is she? lol
...they are both such beautiful girls...

2) Mom was moved to the nursing home. She needs care 24/7. She will do better.
We are going to spend the day with her Saturday. Jolene will be there Saturday and part of Sunday.
3) Two years ago was the last time we spent Leo's birthday with him.

We still love and miss you, Leo. At least you are at peace.

Life's Journeys

Scott and I arrived in Billings with our last load of stuff on Sunday night, unpacked and Monday I went to see mom and Pennie knowing already of the incredibly sad news that her brother, Uncle Jer Ber had passed away. Mom loved him dearly, we all did. He made us laugh. He was a good uncle, paid attention to us kids and teased us with his goofy sayings...many memories...

So on Tuesday, Ed and Cathy went with me to the very sad funeral. It was beautifully decorated with 18 different bouquets of flowers for Jerry and his family. Aunt Marge's brother led the music, we sang the same songs that Uncle Jerry loved. The service was nice, as the Pastor spoke of his uniqueness etc.

On the right, facing us, is my Aunt Marge, Jerry's wife. She seemed remarkably strong yet numb. To her left is her brother that sang and led the singing, and next to him is her sister and mother.
And here is where they laid our dear Uncle to rest. His daughter in law, Lynette and 2 beautiful grandaughters in the background.


Next, are some other pics I took...please keep in mind the smiles are only for the camera.

This is Aunt Goldie. She is older sister to mom, second oldest living in her family of 12 children.
(Rubye's 5 year old grandaughter calls her "Mrs. Goldilocks".) She is very close to my mom and we comforted each other.

This is Jerry's younger sister, Aunt Cora, her husband Bob and my sister, Jolene. Behind Jolene sits Wanda, another deceased uncle's step-daughter.

This is Gracie, Uncle Jerry's beautiful grandchild. She didn't want her picture taken with her family.
And here is her family and uncle and future aunt.

Words couldn't really express what I wanted to say to them, it was a very painful but beautiful afternoon.

And this is how I'll remember Uncle Jerry...
as part of that big ol' Grover clan,
from Minnesota. We have no idea the hard life they had in their upbringing. Uncle Jerry always had a funny story, the best memory (neighbor so and so's mule's name!) and he teased me about my red hair...he was a redhead too. The last time I was him was when I was sitting at the piano in the basement of the church before Leo's funeral. I was playing hymns, getting warmed up to play at the service and I heard this deep voice and "clomping" sound coming towards me. I looked up and there was Uncle Jerry, bent over, like my mom, using a cane, dressed in his nice brown cords, shirt and dress shoes. He was singing away, and sat by me, comforting me before the funeral. In the middle of the funeral, after speakers were finished saying what they loved about Leo, he pops up and says, "Gee, I doubt it if they say that many nice things about me at my funeral!" Those around him laughed...a typical Jerry moment. He sat with us as we tried to eat lunch afterwards. We have a good visit as we drank our coffee.

Love ya, Uncle Jerry. I know you are at peace and without pain...and yes, they said AT LEAST that many good things about you.