Saturday, March 10, 2012

Grandma Pieper--96 Wonderful Years

Mary Olsen Pieper
Katherine, Sadie, William and Tyler discover the Toy Drawer
Fun times with Grandma
Dear Grandma,
I love you and will miss you. I loved coming to your house. Some of my memories:
  • Your raspberry jam on homemade bread. Raspberries will always remind me of you.
  • Spending the night--wearing long, crocheted stockings with jingle bells on them. (I can still remember how they felt on my feet).
  • Reading scriptures after dinner. Sometimes several chapters--that seemed like an ETERNITY. We would each read a chapter or two. When I was young I almost could not handle this.
  • Playing rummy, doing puzzles.
  • The pink bathroom and using powder when we got out of the shower.
  • Thanksgiving Dinner--my favorite was your stuffing. We had long tables set up all over the house. We would even use the old ping-pong tables and then after dinner we would play ping-pong.
  • Playing at the school and park. We loved the cannon at the Rigby City Park.
  • Walking "to town"--Ben Franklin's to buy a fun treat. Grandma would give us a little bit of change.
  • The flour and sugar drawers. I loved these. Also, the fun assortment of little silverware.
  • Eating on the placemats--they were scenic photos from the area where Grandma and Grandpa served their mission. Bullhead City--Dolan Springs, AZ. We went to visit them--a wonderful family trip. Aunt Brenda and Uncle Gabe came with us. I remember hunting for lizards and feeding burros on the streets.
  • Getting out the old filmstrips and watching "the original" Johnny Lingo. I believe they had a whole set of filmstrips that were from their mission. We used to love to set up the film projector, tape player and watch these. Some great "vintage" memories.
  • "Yo Triumphi" Not even sure how to spell that--an old cheer from Grandma's days at Box Elder. I'm sure that any of the Taylor girls could do this for us!
  • Grandma teaching me how to crochet. I think I'll make something and have a good cry!
  • Your dedication to the gospel--working in the temple, doing genealogy work, and serving others.
  • I loved going downstairs--it was almost a scary thrill. Especially the root cellar and the "coffin" It was fun to look through the old books and records.
  • Playing with cousins in the "Jungle Room"--we could lock each other in there by closing the door and pulling out the built-in clothes hamper. This probably resulted in quite a few tears over the years.
  • Watching hours and hours of cable TV--this was when our family had NO TV for a while and then VERY limited reception, so this was a HUGE treat.
  • The family museum--it was always fun to go in there and snoop around at all the cool treasures.
  • The toy drawer in the kitchen--old roller skates, the blue fabric donkey that was missing a limb or two, plastic pig, cows, the set of "jailer" keys.
  • The smell of the compost bucket under the kitchen sink--I actually like that smell.
  • Using the TV trays and feeling REALLY cool.
  • Lots of unconditional love and a wonderful example of faith and endurance.
  • The "chicken" filled with sweet treats and goodies.

I am grateful for your life. I wished that we lived closer and could be with everyone this week. I am sad that things are going to change. I do not like that. I wish that every time I stopped in Rigby, you would be there with your arms open and a treat in the cookie jar. It is sad for me, but I am so happy for you. What a reunion in heaven. I'll see you soon.

Love, Marilyn

KK keeps on bringing me flowers from the yard and little notes, because I keep crying.


Friday, March 9, 2012

Oops


It seems like this blog is becoming a chronicle of our "accidents". This actually happened last summer just before our summer trip. Michael was playing in the pool and whacked his tooth on the side of the pool--sending the other half to the depths. It took a while to get an appointment for Michael so this was his grin for a few days. They did file the sharp edges and got him in a few days later. We had a good time teasing him about fitting right in here in TN. It has been fine and I actually forgot about it until we read about cousin Kate's little mishap earlier this week. We decided to put Michael's crooked smile up, so that they could compare their great smiles. Grateful for good dentists and insurance!