I wasn't expecting this

Last night as I was coming home from running some errands, I 
thought I would swing by Fresh and Easy to pick up a few things.


Uh, not going to happen.

I walked in and saw this

I'd had no idea they were closing! 
(This shouldn't have been a shock to me, but it was.)

This nice little store never had a chance 
with this big store across the street...

and another one, Save Mart, on the opposite corner.


But that's why I liked that little store. It was never crowded. 
I often had the store all to myself. For nearly 5 years.
And they had a nice gluten free section.


But you know what I really liked about it? It was here that my 
granddaughter Elora taught me how to use the self serve check out.


We came here many times after school 
so she could try the samples while we shopped.


We liked the close up front parking for moms (and Grandmas.)

(Elora is only 8 here, and Cami is just 5 1/2. These pictures were taken 7 days before Violet was born.)

I went back to this store one last time early this morning. I started 
taking pictures but was told, "No photography in here M'am." 

That made no sense to me. So I asked the clerk if I could at least 

walk around the empty aisles one last time. He went with me. 


I told him…"but my granddaughter use to dance in this aisle…
so could I please take a picture of it?" 


He said "Sure M'am." I like the man's heart. 


No more dancing in the aisles. 

I wish Elora could have been with me this morning. 
She's 12 now!


Good bye Fresh and Easy. 
Since you took your food away, looks like I will have to go 
elsewhere to make more memories. 

It's been a nice 5 years.

WE ARE FAMILY

We had a bit of heaven in our home yesterday.

My cousin Pat Rozier Nelson emailed and said she and her husband would be in town 
with her 92 year old mother, my Aunt Wanda. I was so excited to see her, and all of them, 
so we threw a little party in the middle of Friday afternoon.



Notice the center piece above? The table was empty in the middle and in walks Pat bringing the flowers 
and Yolanda bringing the WE ARE FAMILY sign. SO thoughtful they are!

Wonderful seeing my Dad and Aunt Wanda together again after all these years. I don't even know 
when the last time they saw each other was. Years, at least.


My kids were all either out of the country, out of state, or at work that day….except for Amy. 
So she snagged Kylie out of school and headed on over. 
(or was I not suppose to say that?)
Amy took me aside during the party and said something like, "Aunt Wanda is amazing. Really, she's 
92? Did you see how she gets out of a chair? Like no big deal!" 

And not only that, but so many of us commented on Aunt Wanda's shoes!
She was stylin.
I told Aunt Wanda, "You are SO pretty," and you know what she said to me?
"I know you were taught not to lie." 

Thanks to my cousin Ron I have this picture of Wanda from 1948!


My cousin Pat with her husband Bill and Aunt Wanda, drove all the way from Portland!


Pat with Bill, and My cousin Mike with his wife Karen.
Mike and Karen are South Dakota residents. They spend 6 months of the year in Fresno.
(or was that North Dakota?? yikes, I can't remember)


I think my cousin Ron is so cute! Always love the hat he wears.
When he saw the meal was gluten free, he asked if he could move in. :)


Yolanda (she is married to my cousin Ron) and cousin Pat.
We had some good talks on Friday. I think I could have talked for hours. 


Dad and Wanda were reminiscing about old times together. I wish I had put this on video!

The goodbyes are always the hardest part.
Thank you Pat, Wanda, and Bill for driving all this way to make this gathering possible. 


Thanks Dad for having me. I'm proud to be born into such a nice family. 
And thank you Susan for being a part of us all for the past over 7 years, and onto forever…

Nacho Bar

I was talking to a new friend last month about our family 
gatherings. She came up with the idea of a Nacho Bar. 
I had never had one of those but it sounded good. 

We aren't very fancy people so this may not look as good as it was.

Tortilla chips
taco seasoned meat
smashed pintos
romaine lettuce
tomatoes, olives, onions, sour cream, cheese, salsa

Fresh Strawberries with whipped cream
rolls, but they were unnecessary.

I was surprised how much everyone liked it.


I debated about the cheese. 
Would they want the liquid stuff or the real cheese? 
So I gave them a choice and the liquid won out. 


Elora arrived early and helped with the ice and drinks. 



Kylie with her boyfriend, David, and his son Travor, 
Jonas looking on.


Jonas and Téa were having quite the conversation. 
See that dirty napkin by Téa's plate? Trevor (next to her) had set his strawberry on his napkin and then
was upset when it got dirty. He started to cry about it (he's only 3!) and Téa just quietly took his
napkin and put it by her plate, and then gave him her napkin. I happened to be walking by at the time or
we never would have known. Love those quiet acts of kindness!



I think sitting at the teenage table would be the best place to be. 



My favorite picture of the evening.
Jonas, Téa, Violet and Trevor (David's son)

All working in the kitchen together.







We were on question #2 for this Family Home Evening…

We went around the room and just let anyone answer it if they wanted to. Most everyone did. It was very special. Amazing how just one question can make such a sweet FHE. 
Thank you again Lori Pope.



I love freezers. I made these Total Oatmeal cookies earlier in the 
week and just pulled them out at the end of the party.


I find it interesting how as soon as the grandkids come into our 
house, off go their shoes. We keep our shoes on, and have never 
asked them to do this.


Laurynn and Violet were together much of the evening.


They like each other.


Okay, so here we are 3 days later and I keep telling Dennis, 
"Don't put the toys away." 
They are just as the grands left them. 
I'm a sappy Grandma Honey.

The loser got to be a tree

Little Grant's preschool teacher asked his parents if one of them would dress up as a tree 
and be in the St Patrick's Day parade that goes down Main Street. 

This was not something either of them wanted to do, so guess what? 
They decided to have a board game championship and the loser had to be the tree. 

So guess who lost?.... Or won... all in how we frame it. 




This is what good Dads do, right?

Not sure how the dog fits in to all this….
but Grant was sure happy to see his little sister, Scarlett.

What an endearing little tail Grant has. 
McKenna made his costume, and McKay's too.



A reporter saw Scarlett smelling dandelions at the parade 
and said her picture would be on the front page of the 
newspaper the next day!….but…..




We were all disappointed to learn they did indeed write about 
Scarlett in the paper, however, the picture they had was not 
Scarlett but another child instead. Total mixup!



Here's the first little part of a long newspaper article about it. 
Great how little Miss Scarlett got top billing….
just wish they had the right picture! (which I will not include here)

"Scarlett Heasley, 19 months, was too busy picking a bouquet of dandelions to notice the parade 
marching by her Tuesday afternoon. Her mom, McKennah Heasley, waved at the marching students. 
Somewhere in the parade lineup was her son, Grant, who attends preschool programs at xxxxxx 
Elementary.
The Heasleys were joined by hundreds of students, staff, families and neighbors on Tuesday afternoon 
for the 24th Annual Paddy Parade, featuring every student in the school……. 



Look what happened last night

  Just a little pre-graduating gathering for our DIL Amy.... Not everyday a Mom of 7 and a Grandma of 7, graduates from college. It was not ...