happy birthday grandma!

Today is my Grandma Parry's birthday! Happy birthday Grandma!

I am super lucky to have such a wonderful great-grandma. I am going to indulge myself for a moment and make a quick list of reason I love her.

#1) She is courageous. Ever since I can remember, Grandma has had hard things going on in her life. But you would never know it.
#2) She is smart. Someday I hope to be able to whip out crossword puzzles and those cryptic clues where one letter stands for another letter like Grandma does.
#3) She is crafty. My cousin Katie talked about making Santas on her blog, but no tribute to Grandma would be complete without mentioning Christmas ornaments, Snuggies (not the new-fangled kind -- the original teddy bear shaped sleeping bags), or quilts. My grandma made me a pink and orange quilt when I was about 3 and lived in Wyoming that I took to college with me. Whenever I needed a pick-me-up, I would wrap myself up in it and pretend like I was sitting on Grandma's couch in front of the warm fire visiting with her.
#4) She is thrifty. Before one of our killer Sunday dinners, I remember helping Grandma make fruit dip. My job was getting the marshmallow creme into the bowl -- which was pretty tricky for a pre-teen :) I thought I had it all out, but Grandma looked and just wasn't satisfied. She couldn't believe that I would waste so much. I couldn't believe that I had ALMOST let Grandma down. Luckily, she let me redeem myself. To this day, I make sure that I get every last drop out of anything/everything -- just in case Grandma stops by!
#5) She is funny. Enough said.
#6) She loves her family. I know that I am Grandma's favorite grandchild. The funny thing is, so does everybody else. We are all right. Maybe I have an edge since I was named after Grandma's mother . . . . my fingers are crossed. Grandma's love has united generations of extended family. I feel so lucky to know all of my Grandma's children (my great-aunts & uncles) and their children (my mom's cousins). I believe that the reason I know and love my extended family so dearly is because my grandma loves them so dearly and has worked hard to keep our family in touch and together.

I feel like I could go on forever, but I should probably stop. I am getting teary thinking of what my grandma (and grandpa -- I can't forget him) means to me -- my sixth graders that are coming in 5 minutes my get freaked out if I was bawling my eyes out in front of my computer.

Grandma -- I wish I was in Idaho Falls to come visit you today! I love you so very much and can't wait to see you soon. Love always,

Larkin