Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Happy Birthday Grandpa

This past week we were able to travel back to Logan to celebrate my Grandpa's 80th Birthday.

It was great to be back where I spent most of my childhood summers (maybe part of the reason that I love Texas so much, having never really born the full brunt of a Houston summer).

There are tons of great memories that come back as we drive through town. Evening trips to Aggie Ice Cream, floating down the canal, following my dad and uncles around the golf courses of Cache County, games of capture the flag and all the summer camping trips. It always feels like I'm on vacation when I'm able to be there.

It was also great to have so many family members together. It was the first time that we'd all been together since my grandmother's funeral. I struggled to realize how old some of my younger cousins are. Most of my memories are of them as little children, but now they're getting older, graduating from high school, going to college, etc. We had so much fun being with them. It was also great to see the growing number of great-grandchildren (3).

We had dinner at a nice place in Logan with all of Grandpa's kids, grandchildren & great-grandchildren. Later that evening, there was an open house at a nearby church where all of the extended family and friends were able to attend. It was a lot of work, especially for Julie & Theresa, but it was a great day and a great time.

On top of that, being there was a great opportunity to be reminded of the great man that is my Grandpa Joe. Because we spent almost every summer there growing up, there were a lot of opportunities to learn from him.

He taught me to work hard. He had a large garden at his house in Hyde Park, and so we got to help him as he irrigated, pull weeds, pick food & prepare it for eating. We had great dinners of food straight from the garden. I also remember him always getting up early to take care of his cows.

He taught me how to fish. Some of my greatest memories are trips to Wyoming, Hyrum Dam or just up Cache Canyon to go fishing. It was always a great time, even if Grandpa had to spend most of his time helping little city kids figure it out. I also remember the time that he had to fish me out of the river.

He taught me to shoot, not that I'm any good at it. I do remember going with Grandpa and Bruce up to the mountains east of his house to shoot bb guns.

Grandpa, I hope that you had a great birthday. I know that we had a great time celebrating it with you.

No comments: