Family Bonding

On Monday night, we all went over to my Grandma Shaffer's house to help her with her yard. She has really struggled with her health the last few years, and has lost a TON of weight. She can't seem to keep any food inside her. She lives in South Salt Lake, and she is still living in the house that my dad grew up in. She just isn't able to take care of her yard anymore. So, my dad organized "a crew" (that is what he told her), and we all met at her house for Family Night.

Grandma with Austin (a few years ago):I'd be lying if I said that we all enthusiastically showed up (there was minor griping), but it really turned out to be a lot of fun. The kids played with Grandma and ate dirt (okay, that was only Paige), and my brother-in-law brought some music. So, we weeded, trimmed, and mowed to the tunes of Elvis and Johnny Cash. The kids loved it! They all danced in the driveway for hours. We finished up in the front yard and ended up playing games. We started by teaching Macy and Austin Red Rover. After a few minutes, a crowd accumulated. So, we invited them to play with us. That game ended when Macy got hurt (I think it was more her feelings than her wrist), so we started playing Colored Eggs. I had forgotten that Red Rover always ends in tears (and usually a broken limb).
It: Knock, Knock...
Kids (sitting on the porch): Who's there?
It: Big Bad Wolf
Kids: What do you want? (Unless you're Macy, she said, "Big Bad Wolf, who?")
It: Colored eggs
Kids: What color?
Then, the "It" calls out a color. If it is the color that the kid is thinking of, they start running to the bucket on the other side of the yard. If "It" tags the child before they get to the bucket, the child becomes "It." Everyone had a blast! We ended with my mom handing out ice cream sandwiches and Strawberry Creamies.

This is a picture of Lisa, Alexie, and myself when we were little at Grandma Shaffer's house. We loved putting clothespins on our skirts and dancing around the backyard. We also loved hanging from the clothesline posts because it turned our hands silver. We would beg, and beg, and beg my dad to lift us up to hold onto the clothesline post and then try to see who could hold on the longest. While the kids were playing, I was holding Paige, who thinks it is hilarious to make a B-Line for the street as soon as she walks outside. Anyway, my dad was telling us some great stories from his childhood. He said that when he was a kid, they would get all the kids together and play baseball in the street. His neighbor's father threw some paint in the street, so that became home plate. A sprinkler head in the neighbor's yard across the street became first base. The manhole was second base. The utility box in my dad's yard was third base. If you hit the ball over the light post, it was an automatic home run. He also pointed out the bedroom window in the house across the street that was replaced several times due to baseball practice. He told us stories of tons of kids playing tag, and the occasional disagreement. It was fun to hear all of his stories.

Some pictures of my dad when he was young: