Grandpa John (Jack) Paul Parry

I am behind on my blogging but I just attended my Grandpa Parry's viewing and I have a few thoughts that I don't want to lose.  I thought I would write them down before I had to get back to my life and time slipped away.  As I get older, time has become something that seems to move at warp speed and if I don't take an opportunity when it's there, it seems to disappear.  My Grandpa passed away last Friday.  He hadn't been feeling well for quite some time, but it was still a bit unexpected.  In fact, just two weeks before he was out on the golf course with his son.  He didn't suffer long.  Over the last week, I have reflected on my interactions with my Grandpa throughout my life and tried to remember my best times with him.  I actually can't really think of any bad times with him.  I know without a miniscule of doubt that he LOVED me.  Truly.  He didn't have to say it or tell me often, but he worried about me, knew me, and cared what happened to me. 
Some of my first memories are of him reminding me to wear a helmet as he was helping me start a motorcycle for me to ride.  I was only 8.  I remember him cooking steak on his grill outside (burgers for the little kids!) and being proud that he could provide steak for his entire family.  And what a treat it was.  I remember watching countless softball games with him pitching.  I specifically remember when I was young and him telling us that we could cheer for him as long as we didn't call him "Grandpa"!  He was too young to be a grandpa to all us crazy kids!
Some of my best memories involve the sports I played.  He loved to watch his kids and grandkids play sports and rarely missed a game.  He cheered me on in softball, basketball, track, and volleyball.  I remember in high school he once told me I had a great jump shot and I should use it more. It felt so awesome that he would notice.  I wasn't a great basketball player, but he saw some potential and instead of criticizing me, he chose the one thing he noticed that was great. That's who he was.  He chose to see the good in people.  He chose to look beyond the mistakes and disappointments and find the hope and the beauty in people.  He knew we weren't perfect, and he loved it that way.
My clearest memories start in college.  My grandfather once drove to Coeur d'Alene from Idaho Falls to watch me play volleyball -- actually he did it a few times -- but once he made it in 6 hours so he wouldn't miss any of the game.  There was no speed limit in Montana at the time and he made the best of those long roads in the middle of nowhere.  It was only 18 years ago, so he was in his 70's while driving at breakneck speeds.  He didn't want to miss the first serve....and he didn't :)
When I started having kids, we lived near him.  My kids were the first little kids in awhile to live near them.  He didn't want to be called Great Grandpa because it sounded so "old"!  He wanted to be called Grandpa Great.  He told the kids his name every chance he got and we fostered that name until the kids knew him only as their Grandpa Great.  He loved it.  And they loved him. 
Timberlyn did not want to come tonight to the viewing.  We tried to make her but it wasn't going well.  I asked her why she didn't want to come.  She said, "Grandpa Great is alive.  He is living in heaven and I don't want to see his dead body."  She is right.  He is alive, sharing the gospel, working hard, and reuniting with his sweet wife and daughters who went before him.  He is preparing the way for his 100+ descendants and their spouses to live together for eternity.  I know he won't give up until all of us are with him.  I will miss you terribly Grandpa.  Thank you for living your life so that we could be so proud of you.  Thank you for supporting me, teasing me, and loving me. I can't wait to see you again and catch up.

Easter Weekend

On Friday morning of our trip to Oregon we packed up and headed to Portland where we dropped off Kanyon and Leonard at the airport to fly to Salt Lake City for General Conference.  The girls and I headed home.  It was a long drive and we were very glad to finally be home.  We had a good time while all the big boys were gone.  Neil and Kelly drove to Salt Lake for Conference, so it was just the Mom’s and Grandma that were home for Easter.  We had a little Easter egg hunt at the farm with cousins.  The kids got tons of candy and had a good time.

After the egg hunt we dyed some eggs.  The girls loved this, they love to do any type of craft.

Shylee couldn’t wait and wanted to eat hers right away.  Go for it girl!!

Last day of Spring Break Vacation

Our last full day of vacation started off a little hectic.  When I made the reservations last fall, there wasn’t a cabin available for the entire time we wanted to be there.  So we stayed in one cabin for 3 nights and for the last night we had to move to another cabin.  The camp hosts were gracious about it and let us move our stuff directly from one cabin to the other, so that was nice.  BUT we didn’t know they would let us do that so we had already packed most of our stuff in the car, planning to come back later and check in again.  So when they told us, we unpacked again before we headed out for the day.  A little crazy but better in the long run.  This time we headed south along the coastline.  We stopped first at Cape Kiwanda State Park.  They have huge sand dunes.  Leonard took most of the pictures we have from there.  He climbed the dunes with the kids while Shylee and I stayed on the flat sand.

The girls finally made it up the largest dune.  Time for photo session!

It’s beautiful, even in the early spring!  We drove a little further south to another state park called Bob Straub State Park.  Here, the sand was perfect.  It was really the first dry (really, really dry) sand we had seen.  The little kids especially loved it because we had buckets and shovels and they played on the sand while the rest of us watched the ocean.  It was really just a time to be out of the car and relax in the sun (or take a nap).  It was still a bit cold, but tolerable in our jackets. 

Miranda’s first ocean beach castle!

Shylee was afraid of the sand at first.  Then she decided that it was okay to sit in, then be buried in, and then finally, to eat.  Silly girl!

We then headed to find a little trail that said we could hike about 1/4 mile to reach some awesome falls.  It was called Munson Creek Falls.  This place was a little strange to find.  We never actually got lost but we were pretty sure we must be going the wrong way until we actually got there.  I was beautiful!  It was like a rainforest in there with HUGE cedar and spruce trees and an easy path that even Shylee could manage.  I am glad we made the detour and it was good to have the kids walking a bit.   I cannot even begin to describe how big some of these trees were.  Pictures do not do any justice to them.

Shylee was happy to be out of the car!

We couldn’t get all the way to the falls because of some downed trees and a lot of mud but we got pretty close and got some good pictures.  I LOVE the trees with moss all over them.  I think they look so interesting and beautiful.  I am sure the moss drives people crazy but it looks so pretty out in the woods. Like they’ve been decorated by nature. First Spring bloom

Not a very crowded place in the early spring time!  The kids enjoyed this little “hike” (definitely more like a walk) and I really enjoyed the beautiful place this earth is.