My Gram

I just love this picture- it was taken the summer of 2008 (I believe)

Sydney has the chubby cheek cuteness and my Grandma has a great smile, this is the face I see when I remember her

This is my Grandpa that same day and he also has a great smile and is being funny

I love thinking of them both this way

I cannot think of my Gram without thinking of Grandpa (they were married 66 years)

my grandpa is living in a nursing home now and his memory is failing him, it is so sad to see him now, I want to remember him the way he was in this picture

This picture was taken December of 2011 when we made a trip to Georgia to see my grandma, I was so glad she could see Sydney again and meet Griffin

despite her failing health she still had a big smile

this picture turned out slightly blurry but I will treasure it, the only picture I have of both my kids and I with my grandma Sandera

As kids and later as teens my sister Amanda and I went up north to visit our dad and we always visited our grandparents.  Some summers we stayed at their house for days, sleeping over with our favorite silky blanket and purple velvet pillow.   We have so many fun memories of our time with our grandparents.  My grandma used to take us garage saleing and she always had a supply of clothes and "kinis" (bikinis) for us to wear while visiting.  We used to go fishing with my grandpa on the pontoon boat, sometimes Gram would come along but she would always pack us drinks and snacks.  When we got home from fishing we would watch my grandpa clean the fish at the utility sink and then help gram fry them for dinner in her cast iron skillet.  We helped pick berries from my grandpa's garden and then ate them on plain yogurt.  My grandma would sew us little dresses and let us play dress up with her jewelry.  When we stayed over we were allowed to drink coffee and stay up to watch Golden Girls on TV.  My gram used to walk with ladies in her neighborhood and we were always allowed to go along, sometimes we would ride the three wheeled tricycle.  We would do all kinds of craft projects together.  My grandma always had Squirt in the fridge and nutty butty bars in the snack jar.  My grandma made chocolate brownies and put powdered sugar on top, and my grandpa would throw the brownie on the table a few times to knock off what he called "choke powder".  We would sometimes stop at Burger king to eat on our way around the lake.  Gram took us to a park near their house that we called Marky Parky.  Once my sister and I each did the makeup on half of grandma's face.  We played in the apartment behind their house.  We exercised to Richard Simmons tapes together.  One thing that I never noticed as a kid but I now realize was that all the fun things we did were very inexpensive and yet they are so special now.  The memories are endless and they are forever!