To grandmother's house we go

My sister, Stacey, recently posted on her blog some memories she has of my grandma and her house in Panaca, NV (If you have never heard of it, it is a little town in Lincoln county between Pioche and Caliente). My grandma passed away in February of 2007. But I felt like she was already gone the last few years of her life. She suffered from Dementia and Alzheimer’s. I feel so grateful to have such fond memories of her before she got sick.

when I was little I loved going to Panaca. My grandma's house was like a mansion! There were rooms everywhere and it was the best house to play hide-and-go seek in. Depsite the fact that I had cousins and sisters just a few years older than me, the only kid I got to play with was my little brother. Appearently I wasn't good enough to play with the older girls. I remember one time my aunt made my cousin play with me and she wouldn't let me do anything I wanted to do; we had to play by her rules. Looking back now it is really funny, but at the time I always wished for the day that the older girls would let me play them. Thant's ok though, because Brett was always a fun playmate!

My grandma was the best cook. And I swear, she was always in the kitchen making something. Still, to this day, whenever I smell certain foods I feel like I am back in grandma's kitchen, sitting on a bar stool and watching her hum as she cooked. (My grandma always hummed while she cooked.) But she did have a temper. You could often find her swearing under her breath or telling the kids to "get out of the damn kitchen."

I loved going into her room and going through all of her things. She had tons of scarves and necklaces and nail polish and lotions, and rings, everything to keep a little girl busy. My grandma was an "Avon lady" and had tons of Avon stuff around her house.

My grandma had the most beautiful yard filled with flowers. If we ever visited in the spring we could always count on seeing tulips in her front yard.

The first thing I wanted to do when I got to Panaca was go to the "merc" (the little grocery store in Panaca). They had a penny candy section where you could get all sorts of little candies for a penny. Grandma kept a jar in her kitchen where she put her spare change. She would let me borrow one of her coin purses to fill up with coins and off I went to walk to the Merc.

Memories of Panaca:

• Eating ginger snaps out of the cookie jar
• Waking up to the smell of "Hot Cakes"
• Helping grandma make her famous focaccia bread. (I always got to make the holes on top)
• Sitting at the bar watching her cook
• Being yelled at to go outside and play
• Playing baseball in the big field behind her house
• Climbing Court Rock

Moss fights in the spring (natural swimming pool)

Learning how to drive

Being banished to the sun room to eat ( stole that one from Stacey)

Closing off the basement to make it pitch dark and playing games.

Eating Swan's ice cream bars and being yelled at for eating to many

Being yelled at for eating...period

Sitting by a nice warm fire place

Sitting in the big blue recliner chair in the sun room, eating my penny candies and watching cartoons with Brett

Unfortunately things change, houses get torn down and people die. The sweet memories of our childhood are all we have left to remember good times by. I am so thankful for the wonderful memories I have of Panaca and my grandma, Laura Marie.

half way there

Well, it has been a really long time since I have posted on here. I have officially made it half way through my student teaching and I may just survive the other half. I can’t believe how fast the past 6 weeks have gone by. I have been more busy then I have ever been (and it doesn’t help that I spent almost 3 of those weeks dog sitting for various people –I think I have become the official dog sitter) I think I have come a long way from where I was at the beginning and I am getting really excited to have a classroom of my own. The kids are amazing. I was surprised how quickly I got attached to them (even if some of them do smell).

I love Sunday dinners at my house because it I get to spend time with my family, but it is pure chaos. Last Sunday my brother-in-law’s brother came with his two daughters so in total there were nine little kids running around. To keep them entertained their parents sent them outside to play in the water with the hose. None of them had swim suits so they decided to just strip down to their underwear. It was hilarious! I would post pictures but I am sure none of you want to see little kids running around in the backyard without any clothes on :) So, instead here is a picture of them with their clothes on