The Fourth

Another fourth of July has come and passed.  It was a drizzly and dreary affair this year but we made up for it with a visit from my parents for the weekend.  I think I'm going to like them living in Chicago, especially when they can visit a little more often. 

To start the holiday out, I drug the box of decorations up from the basement.  We did this weeks ago and we've been enjoying the novelty of red white and blue around the house.  That morning we had a joyful morning exploring all of the decorations to a soundtrack of Sousa Marches.  They paraded around the house with flags and shakers to the sounds of trumpets and trombones.  Decorating for holidays is one of my most favorite things to do with the kids, followed closely by baking cookies together.  For days afterward, Amy would point to them and say, "stars! I wub it!"

On Friday, we drove over to Harper's Ferry (of course).  It is such a pretty spot and filled with so much history.  I was sure they would love it.  We filled the rest of the weekend with two firework shows, shopping with my mom (something I really miss with us living so far apart), a trip to the movies to see Finding Dory and good food.  The highlight for the whole thing was having time to talk to my mom and dad.  They have embarked on such a big adventure in their lives and it was nice to get the update.  We talked about all the fourths from the past and talked about the infamous Miss Grantsville pageant. 

We decorated the kids bikes which is a tradition of mine since childhood.  We did finally get some nice weather in and pulled out the slip and slide.

 

 On the fourth, we braved the rain and 70 degree temperatures to go to the Dale City Parade.  It's the one we went to last year and I liked it just as much.  The highlight would be all the candy they throw out.  Amy spent most of the parade eating her candy.  My dad wore his traditional flag shirt (it just isn't the fourth without it) and was filmed by a photographer for a local magazine. 

 

 

With rain falling nearly all day (boo), we opted to try out the fireworks at Manassas.  Last year we drove into the city to see the fireworks in similar weather and weren't able to see hardly any fireworks with all the smoke hanging in the air.  We had a pretty nice view, although Amy decided that she wasn't a fan of fireworks this year. 

It was a fourth to remember, even with fussy kids from long days of fun.  Toddlers are such temperamental creatures.  Luckily, I prepared myself mentally for it all and expected it so it wasn't too bad. 

A Grantsville Fourth

We celebrated a Grantsville Fourth of July this year and I loved it.  We have not been able to participate for the past 3 years and it was as good as I remembered.  But, I have to admit that I was thinking of our DC’s fourths too.  There’s just so much history there and really, can you beat visiting the White House on that most patriotic day?  Well, no.  Ok, it was a close tie.  

Loni, my sis, and Heber with the boys.  Look at our crowd for the parade, this wasn't even everybody.

 

 I think the thing that really threw it over the top was being able to be there with my family.  My sisters, my cousins, nieces and nephews, the grandparents, it was just so nice.  It has been over a year since I’ve seen one of my sisters and it filled me up and made me sad that we are moving away from them all.  Leo ran his little legs off outside and had a wonderful time playing. 

 

It was a day filled with all of the traditional things.  The parade, which featured much less heavy machinery and tanks than I remember, a family BBQ with so much good food.  You should know by know that my family knows how to cook and make a beautiful meal.   To me, holidays are good food.

Grandpa Matt and Amy

One notable part of the day was being able to sing a solo at the flag raising ceremony at the Fire Station.  A few weeks ago, I felt like I wanted to sing there and just couldn’t get it out of my mind, so I called up the coordinator and asked if they needed a musical number.  It was wonderful to sing in public, it really is one of my favorite things to do.  Maybe I need to seek out more opportunities like this.

 

We topped it all off with fireworks.  What a wonderful weekend.

Saying Goodbye

We made our second cross country trip in ten days this past weekend. I have to admit that I was dreading traveling.  Who really wants to fly with a one year old?  There was no way that I could miss saying goodbye to Grandpa Dave, so we gathered ourselves together again (bags still not quite unpacked from our last trip) and made our way west. 

It was an incredible trip.

As you read before, we have been pretty exhausted around here.   With so much sickness going around, we've been just trying to hold it all together.  The thing is, the trip was uplifting and I came home not tired at all.  I think it was recalling Grandpa's life and seeing all of the love and support that we received.  It made me want to be a better person.  To care more about my community.

At Grandpa's funeral, there were hundreds of people who came through the viewing or attended the funeral and even more that called or stopped by the house.  My Grandpa was 83 when he passed away and people from all over turned up to honor him, old, young and everything in between.  There was family and then family of family (all of my mom's immediate family came, even though they are not related to Dave) who came out to support us. 

There were people from all walks of life,  nurses from the assisted living center, men in work clothes and cowboy boots, and women in black dresses and heels.  I can tell you that Grandpa Dave would have loved it all.  He loved people and people felt that genuine spirit.  It didn't matter who you were - stranger or friend, rich or poor, educated or not, there was a "hello there" with a twinkle in his eye and a funny story to share. 


I was blown away by all of the flowers, I have never seen so many arrangements at a funeral before.  So many people shared stories about how he'd helped them out in some way or touched their life for the better.   There was a beautiful meal provided by the church.  So many community members who serve and give with no thought of reward. 

So we said farewell to Grandpa.  He's given me so much over the years and as his final gift, he reminded me about who I am at my roots and to always be proud of that.   I want to give like he did and to be a friend like he was.

Me with  my sister's and mom at the funeral.

Dad L.

Leo and Aunt Carly.  He liked her, can you tell?

Me with Mom L. and Aunt Melody

Me and Aunt Star

Me with Leo's biggest fan, Grandma Barbara.

Me, Mom L., Grandma Barbara and Baby Leo

Grandma Minnie

We went to a funeral this weekend in California.  Heb's Grandma U. passed away.   It was all rather whirlwind to book a flight, hotel and car and then making the cross-country journey.

Minnie was a remarkable woman in her late ninety's.  She went to college and earned a degree in a time when women did not go to college and even more incredible was that it was during the great depression.  I can only imagine the drive and dedication it took to complete that.  She worked as a teacher for many years, had two children and then retired with her husband Stan.  They traveled all over the world together.  It was amazing to see pictures of her travels.  The two of them are running around Istanbul, Mexico, on boats, in their trailer home.  I want to be like that.  I want a life filled with family and travel.  She was an avid seamstress and continued to sew right up to the end of her life.

 

I only met Grandma a few times but I was impressed with her honesty and also her love of Skip-bo.  During the weekend, we had the opportunity to go through some boxes of pictures that she had.  There were pictures from Heb's childhood.  I haven't seen too many so I jumped at the opportunity to see his sweet face as a child.

What struck me the most about the pictures was the puncture mark of a push pin.  Why would that be significant?  Well, to me it means that she hung it up, she looked at it, it was something that meant enough to her that she wanted it to be part of her daily life.  I am a big believer in bulletin boards.  All over our house you can see bulletin boards filled with pictures.  I want to be surrounded by the people and things that I love.  I want to look at them everyday and remember.  I think that's why the simple hole in a picture meant so much to me.  The most recent one with a hole was one of the first pictures of our new family - it was Heber, Leo and I at the hospital as brand new parents.  She had hung it up.  

That's how you know she really loved you.

Here's one of Heber's memories of his grandma:

Grandma and Grandpa would always play games with us. They introduced us to Skip-Bo, or Spite and Malice as is was called back in their day. I think Grandma probably liked to think of it as Spite and Malice instead of Skip-Bo because she sure knew how to play it that way. It was probably the only game I can remember that Grandpa couldn't cheat at so Grandma would make up for that by making sure she could cut you off in any way possible. When you'd get exasperated with her after she blocked your play and won the game, she would just quietly look over and stick out her long tongue at you. She was good at that game and she knew it. And she used her tongue to make sure you knew it too. 

I always thought it was very cool that she could touch her nose with that long tongue.