Holidays

During the holidays I always think of family and friends...most of us do. Lately I have been thinking a lot about my grandparents. I was lucky enough to grow up with grandparents and I really loved the time I spent with them. My Grandma Lila and Grandpa Earl Thompson lived in Hatton, which is only a 40 minute drive from Grand Forks. My Grandpa C.B and Grandma Bea Norgaard moved to Arkansas when I was in kindergarten or 1st grade. The only grandparent I still have alive is my Grandma Bea. She is planning on moving to Rochester, MN soon to live with one of my uncles. (which I think is a great idea because she is getting uncomfortable living on her own)

Anyway, I just wanted to share a few pictures and memories that I have of each of my grandparents. Read on if you would like! As I was looking for pictures, I realized that I don't have any on our new computer of Grandma Lila or Grandpa C.B. I'll have to see if I can upload some.

Grandma Bea: She lives in Bella Vista, AR

-makes the best desserts and every dinner has one (strawberry shortcake, angelfood cake, pies)

-relies so much on God that I wish I had a quarter of her strength in Him.

-prays ALL the time, she has set a great example for her 10 children, 28 grandchildren and something like 18 or 19 great-grandchildren

-extremely patient and kind :-)

Grandpa C.B.: passed away on a very crazy day. August 1st, 2007. I had taken my group of summer kids to valley fair, we made it back to the center and found out the bridge collapsed in Minneapolis and then it started to thunderstorm. My cousin Elizabeth called and asked if the world was ending, it was such a horrible day!

HAPPY MEMORIES:

-he drove WAY too fast, we used to joke that he had a speeding ticket in every state

-he loved to golf and Arkansas was the perfect place for him

-he loved the Twins and Notre Dame football

Grandma Lila: Lila passed away the Sunday before my high school graduation, it was an extremely emotional time and I always prayed I would have all of my grandparents at my graduation. I was chosen to speak at my church for our graduation mass and I had spent a lot of time at the hospital. One of the bibles in the chapel was open to Romans and I found this verse that I carry with me today. "rejoice in hope, be patient in times of trouble and never stop praying" Romans 12:12 It made for a perfect graduation speech.

HAPPY MEMORIES!

- always overfed us!

- made the best food (doughnuts, cookies, hotdish, banana bread, meatballs...)

- she had the funniest laugh!

- so kind and I am so happy that our daughter is named after her, I think of Grandma Lila every time I say Mackenzie Lila and I love it!

Grandpa Earl: Passed away in February of 2008. I had gone to the Sioux/gophers hockey game in Minneapolis and yelled so much I got strep throat. I was out of teaching mon/tues for recovery and Grandpa passed away on Wednesday. We travelled home before the blizzard hit and we joked that on the way to the funeral it would only make sense that everyone would have to drive 20 mph to get to his funeral because that's as fast as he would drive on a sunny clear day.

-always made people laugh with his inappropriate jokes

-liked to give us whisker rubs

-jokingly would ask us if we wanted chocolate candy (which was actually his chew...gross!)

-played the accordion

-was very musical and loved to dance as well

-loved his grandchildren so much, it makes me sad that he never got to meet Mackenzie, but I know he laughs along with us from above when we watch her grow and learn.

Grandma Bea (Betty) at Eric's Graduation celebration last May. She loves family celebrations, but is usually a quiet bystander.

Grandpa Earl and me playing cards

Celebrating Grandpa's 92nd birthday. We all wore sunglasses because we joked he had too many candles on his cake :-) He thought it was hilarious

Showing us how many boxes of candles it took to show his age!

He was such a fun Grandpa, I miss him a ton!

Be thankful for the family you have this Christmas and

enjoy the time you get to spend with them. :-)