Grandparents are Amazing!!

An interesting conversation has been brewing within our house, with my brothers, and some co-workers. The topic was Grandparents and what makes "good" grandparents. At school, we have plenty of students that are being raised by their grandparents (God bless them for doing an amazing job) Anyway, getting back to my story. Growing up, I had two sets of grandparents that were unique in their own way. Gma and Gpa Beuschel had a huge apple orchard located in Sparta, Michigan. I can still see the huge blue sink , hear my gpa yelling at the tv, and boy so I remember the smell their house. Having thirty cousins on that side of the family kept things wild, so get togethers were CRAZY! Some of my favorite memories include:
1) Hanging out in the barn
2) Swinging on the wooden swings that were part of the apple trees
3) Camping with my grandparents and cousins Kelly and Kurt (still think of you...God took you way to early)
4) Playing the animal peanut game
Gma and Gpa Thayer lived on Happy End Trail in a small trailer park. They had one of the radio/tv combinations (it took up an entire wall!) On top of the television was one of the oil lamp of a naked lady...now that I am older, you have to ask why??? Outside, there was a river that my brothers and I would always hang out at. They also had a round stool that we would roll on which would always end up in a fight and my grandma would have to put in the backroom. One of the greatest memories was camping at Chicago Lake, which was in the middle of nowhere in the Upper Penisula of Michigan. We would play cards, build campfires, and take the canoe out to catch fish. Once, we headed to the general store where I made one of my first purchases...the gent told me it would be $3.75 plus tax. I kept repeating but I don't want to buy tax. My gpa had to leave the store as he was laughing so hard!! My grandma was one crafty woman (wish I would have inherited that). She used to make us the coolest Easter baskets. We used to make these mesh Easter balls to put on our front tree...looking back, my parents must have died looking at that tree but for the love of their daughter they kept allowing me to decorate it year after year. Boy, I sure wish I had a picture!!

Rob always has to say that Eli is his mother's revenage on him. Rob was quite the little boy growing up. Man, I would have loved to hear stories of him when he was little. Eli would have loved the heck out of Rob's mom!!!

Oh my, the list could go on and on! When I was growing up, I never knew how poor my grandparents were. They loved us for who we were. I couldn't tell you ten things that they bought me (likewise for my brothers) but boy can I remember the times they spent with us! Eli and Jace are very lucky to have amazing grandparents. When I asked Eli what is his favorite thing to do with Nana and Papa he always mentions getting roasty-toasty (they have an electric blanket) and having little snacks from papa! He loves when Nana and Papa do crazy things like make the big red car from chairs, pretend to drive their car (which always involves a little honking) and just plain being silly. We had the honor of having our grandson live by us for three short months until he moved to Michigan. He probabaly won't know us as the grandparents we could have been, but in words from my hubby, It is what it is!