June 17, 2008

Crazy week and Father's day

There are so many posts I owe to this blog, I'm so behind. We've been up to Bear Lake twice and I have yet to post pictures from those trips. Sad. BUT we had a lot of fun. My aunt and uncle next door to us up there had 10 dogs at their place. I was completely overwhelmed by the thought of taking JJ up with us, but we did anyway. 3 of the 10 were puppies and JJ played with them as much as he could. It seemed the older dogs had out grown his puppy-like energy and didn't like him very much, but the puppies just adored him! So that was a lot of fun. It was nice to just let him run anywhere and not have to worry about him not coming back, I was so relieved.

I also have been completely mentally preoccupied with a wedding I photographed on Friday. (Friday 13th, fun right?) I'm so relieved it's over and so excited to share the pictures! It was such a fun wedding, you'll love it!

I haven't ever really blogged much about my lovely parents. My grandparents adopted me when I was 8. I had grown up calling them grandma and grandpa so the switch to calling them mom and dad never really happened. Grandpa is 86 and Grandma is 76. Grandpa is amazing. At his age you'd think he'd be pretty slow, but no, he's a feisty one.

Grandpa served in WWII. He was a radar man. He's very proud of his service and instilled in us pride for our country. He loves to reminisce about his days overseas. Especially to strangers, which always embarrasses Grandma. He spent his time during the war in Europe (England, France, and Germany) He landed in Normandy a few days after D-Day and still remembers what it was like to see the beach in a deadly disarray. He doesn't talk much about the hard things, but he does often share some fun stories. One of his favorites is about a time when he was camped in France by the Seine. The soldiers would sneak across the river to a winery and bring back barrels of wine. (He swears he never had any though) Every night one man in the camp had the job of waking up early to put water on each of the stoves that were in the center of each tent. Well one night the man doing that was still pretty drunk in the morning and put a gallon of gasoline on the stove in Grandpa's tent. He said he woke up to a WOOOSH as his tent caught fire and burnt down around him. The funniest part of this story is grandpa laughing hysterically and barely being able to tell the story.

He goes down to the local Senior center everyday for lunch. He loves it because he can visit with friends and make new friends. His favorite days down there are Thursdays and Fridays because he gets to sing with the local bands. He usually only sings "Bill Bailey" written by Hughie Cannon in 1902. Another favorite of his is "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole. He also gets to dance with all the ladies. It doesn't bother Grandma, who never goes, because he always comes home happy.

He's always been a ladies man. For a while he had the calling of greeting people when they'd come to church. You would often overhear him tell a woman that she had "bedroom eyes." And again, he loves to dance with the ladies at the senior center. (I have heard that he only really dances with his cousin.)

Grandpa also amazes me because he's VERY service oriented. He always makes the time to visit sick friends and help out people in the ward. If there is a funeral in the ward he's always at the chapel bright and early to set up chairs and will always go after to take them down. Every Sunday he writes a note to Zach and I telling us he loves us and sticks it in our car before we leave. It's always fun to find one and we've kept every one.

Grandpa has always been very frugal. He had a hard time paying tithing for most of my life. For us to be sealed to him, he needed to have payed his tithing for an entire year. All of his children had pleaded with him to pay it. We all wanted so badly to be sealed to our parents. I know Grandma did. One family dinner we were sitting around the table chatting. Grandpa got up and left the room and came back and handed my Uncle (brother) Mike two pieces of paper: one was a letter Mike had written Grandpa expressing his desire for us to be sealed as a family, and the other was a temple recommend. Grandpa had started paying his tithing and paid it for a year and didn't say a word to anyone. It was the best surprise he could have given us :)

He keeps very active by working in his orchard everyday, taking long walks with friends, and taking in the occasional Tai Chi lesson with the Relief Society ladies at the church. After a hard day of work at Bear Lake he will make the trek out to the lake for a little skinny dip instead of taking a shower. He's so funny. Growing up he'd always sing "I love to go swimming with bow-legged women and swim between their knees."

Grandpa has been a little under the weather lately. We recently found out he needs a hip replacement and will have the surgery in late July. Poor Grandpa. He's used to being so active and this has really slowed him down. He even finally admitted that he could really use a cane. I told him that's it's charming, like Pres. Hinckley's. I even got him to wave it around a little.
On the upside, Grandma has really upped her activity to take care of Grandpa and all the things he usually does. And he's let us help more. It's nice to be able to finally help them out after everything they've done for Zach and I. It's been hard to watch him go through this because it makes him sad to not be doing the things he has always done. Anyway, the Dr.'s he has are great and the surgery should be an easy one. He will only be under local anesthetic and might not have to stay a night in the hospital.

Anyway, I love Grandpa. He's a great man.

6 comments:

Jill said...

I think I've only met him once...maybe twice (though you told me about he and your Grandma many, many more times) and was charmed. They are wonderful people, Jenny. You are very lucky to be their daughter.

jamirodana said...

That is a really neat post about your Grandpa. He sounds like a great man.
Thanks for your comment. I totally forgot you were a photographer! I just want to learn anything.
I will talk to you soon.
By the way, my hubby comes from a large family of 12 kids, 11 of them are adopted. (all different races too) I hope all goes well with your process.

Zabriskie Family said...

He is such a awesome man... I am so glad that I am a part of your family. You guys are all very wonderful!

Shawnee said...

What a great post! Not only are you a fabulous photographer, but you're a great writer too!

Chris and Tara said...

I'm so glad you wrote about your Grandpa's tithing experience. My dad has been inactive for most of my life and a few years ago I wrote him a letter talking about how much I wanted him to start coming to church again so that when the time comes for us to part I can know that I will see him again. This really gives me hope. Thank you.

bekka said...

I totally remember him singing that...aahh the memories