Even with all the blessings and joy of living with my daughter, son in-law and grandson my heart hurts a little.
So, for tonight I pray that Heavenly Father helps me to see my blessings, helps my heart feel the joy that I know surrounds me and to have hope for what I know can be but can not see.
Hugs,
Grammy
One of the things Sean and I were looking forward to moving in with our daughter, the opportunity to celebrate the holidays together. Two years ago it was just the two of us and last year Riss made it three. 2022 Thanksgiving had us spread to Japan, Guam, Hawaii and Utah. It was so nice to sit at our table with Cutie E and his parents this year. While we still have two kiddo’s in Utah our table felt full.
I love celebrating the holidays, a trait I inherited from my mom. Thanksgiving is my favorite. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE CHRISTMAS, but there is something special about a month devoted to pondering the things you are thankful for, just before a month where we focus on the birth of Christ.
Years ago I was sitting in church listening to a lesson on gratitude. The teacher offered a few suggestions on how we could fill our homes with an attitude of gratitude. I took hold of one of those suggestions. Each year from the time Harrison was in kindergarten each night we all took a die cut pumpkin and wrote down one thing we were thankful for and taped them to the door in the hallway. I loved the early responses from the kids: chairs to sit on during circle time, my dollies to sleep with, all of my puppies from Grandma, books. They were the things that were so important to them. I have saved these pumpkins year after year to remember all that we have been grateful for over the years.
Sean and I continue this tradition. We even invite family and friends who visit to partake in our family tradition and add a pumpkin to our door. I love to watch the door fill with people, things, or moments we are grateful for.
This year we celebrated Cutie E’s first Thanksgiving and living together as a family. We continued our “Thankful Pumpkin” tradition. Our laundry room door filled quickly . This year has been filled with so much to be thankful for. We have a new grandbaby that is pure joy, our home sold quickly, the sellers let us live in our home an extra six weeks, moving across the country into a home that fits us well, all of our dear friends, children and spouses that we adore, each other and for a loving Heavenly Father that has been our guide all year long.
How has gratitude filled your heart this year?
Hugs,
Grammy
Once we moved to Maryland I wanted to get us back on our schedule. This included our nightly walks. That was a lot harder to do than I anticipated. I wasn’t prepared for the oppressing east coast heat and humidity. It kept us inside for weeks. After a month of being indoors I started to feel like a caged animal. One evening I broke out and took a short walk through our neighborhood, which I hadn’t explored yet. I discovered that we were surrounded by small forests full of deer, squirrels, foxes and rabbits. We aren’t in a rural area, but all the trees make it feel like we are.
A few more weeks had passed and the early fall temperatures broke through the heat and humidity of summer. I was finally getting out and taking my grandson for a walk. It was just he and I, so it was fairly quiet. I could hear “things” rustle in the leaves and only hoped we didn’t encounter a skunk. Actually I figured it was the squirrels gathering nuts for the winter. I was right, kind of.
While yes the squirrels were scurrying around collecting nuts for the winter, what I was actually hearing were the acorns falling from all the tall oak trees and bouncing off the sidewalk and streets. There were so many you could hear them hit the ground and watch them bounce.
I was so excited! Here I was at the beginning of fall on the east coast. Fall colors are legendary here. The news even tracks the best times to view the colors based on region. I’m here with Cutie E and I get to share this with him like I did his mommy. He’s too young to collect acorns or grasp the story of how his mommy, uncle, auntie and I used to collect them in Oregon, but I knew he and I needed to collect our own acorn tops.
It didn’t take long before the both cup holders and phone holder were full of acorn caps. My son in-law was curious why his son’s stroller suddenly became full of acorn caps. First I had to explain that we don't collect the nuts because they will sprout and bring in bugs, gross. Besides, the squirrels need them. Then I shared a wonderful memory I have of collecting them with my kids and how we used them to decorate at Thanksgiving. Now we get to use the ones Cutie E and I collected to decorate our new home that we share together.
I didn’t anticipate collecting acorn tops, something I would share with my grandson, but I’m so grateful for the sunny fall afternoon when the acorns fell. It reminded me of something special I did with his mommy.
Hugs,
Grammy
Hello!!
According to my mom when I was three years old I said I wanted to be a teacher. I'm not sure how many three year olds declare what their future will be, but apparently I did. I spent over 20 years teaching middle school and LOVING IT! I know what your thinking, middle school, really? Those were the worst years of my life. Personally my middle school years were a series of mishaps in trying to fit in, so I agree with you. Middle school is not fun. But, spending over 20 years with an amazing teaching team, a stream of wonderful families and students, plus curriculum I love made for a great mix of agonizing fun.
I do remember always wanting to be a mom. At the young age of 24 my husband and I welcomed our first kiddo to the family. We loved it so much that we later had her brother and sister. There is nothing better than being a mom to these three amazing adults.
Someone once told me that they hated certain stages of their child's growing up years. I was shocked! How? Is it possible to hate a stage? My goal was to find joy in each stage no matter how difficult it was. Honestly, it wasn't always easy. I made lots of mistakes, spent days or weeks frustrated. I had high expectations of my children and even higher ones for myself. In spite of my imperfections I found joy in each stage of parenting.
Now I am watching as my children grow into adults, get married, discover and navigate their own dreams and begin families of their own. In the 27 years I have been a mom I have realized three things: one, I love the individual person each of my children are, I love being a mother and there is nothing more important than family.
Recently my husband and I were invited to move in with our daughter and her husband. They blessed us with an adorable grandson this last spring and were asking us to help them raise this beautiful baby and his eventual siblings. Like I said, family is the most important thing. So, I retired from teaching early, we sold our home, moved across the country with our business and began a life in a multigenerational home. Everything about my life is different, even the day of the week that I do laundry and clean. We are living in a multigenerational home in a country that doesn't widely practice this type of family. I'm building muscles I haven't used in years all while watching this adorable grandson of ours grow and develop each day. I can't believe how blessed we are.
I'm excited to go places I never dreamt of, have experiences that couldn't come any other way and to record them here for my grand babies, my children, family, friends and anyone interested in what life is like in America when living with your daughter and her family.
Hugs,
Shannon (Grammy)
My Sweet Grands, I can not believe how quickly our fall flew by. It feels like time was on super speed. In order to get caught up on all ...
