My grandparents are both 87 years old, and I have the privilege of having them stay here with us before and after their interisland cruise. Here's from an email I sent to my mom about some of our adventures:
They arrived Monday night. They were HONORED that someone upgraded their tix to first class and they raved about the service they received. Then they LOVED the leis and were so touched that they were from everyone. Grandma is so funny--she wants to save them for when we go out somewhere nice, so in the meantime, they're aging in the fridge. Oh well.
They found out Tuesday the hard way that they needed the wheelchair, so it is a very good thing that they have it. We walked to the beach near our house, and I went back home ( a 3 minute walk) to care for Elysse and make some phone calls. I was about to go back to get them when I saw them coming. A kind woman who saw them at the beach was helping Grandpa walk. Apparently, when Grandpa tried to get up, his leg went numb and he struggled to walk home. The woman, Julie, saw them struggling on the shore and came out to help. I came with the wheelchair and helped him get home. But once we arrived at the apartment building, I couldn't get the wheelchair up the curb. A kind man came over to help, and Grandpa was excited to hear that he was a member of our same church.
They arrived Monday night. They were HONORED that someone upgraded their tix to first class and they raved about the service they received. Then they LOVED the leis and were so touched that they were from everyone. Grandma is so funny--she wants to save them for when we go out somewhere nice, so in the meantime, they're aging in the fridge. Oh well.
They found out Tuesday the hard way that they needed the wheelchair, so it is a very good thing that they have it. We walked to the beach near our house, and I went back home ( a 3 minute walk) to care for Elysse and make some phone calls. I was about to go back to get them when I saw them coming. A kind woman who saw them at the beach was helping Grandpa walk. Apparently, when Grandpa tried to get up, his leg went numb and he struggled to walk home. The woman, Julie, saw them struggling on the shore and came out to help. I came with the wheelchair and helped him get home. But once we arrived at the apartment building, I couldn't get the wheelchair up the curb. A kind man came over to help, and Grandpa was excited to hear that he was a member of our same church.
Later that day, Grandpa sat outside with one of the books he wrote in his hands while I helped Kezia ride her bike. Julie drove by asking how he was doing, and I told her he would like to say hi to her. The cool thing was, he told her earlier that he would like to give her a book, and it was just coincidence that they met again, and he had his book with him.
Wednesday morning I hosted an excursion with my preschool. A big storm was predicted beginning Wednesday night, so we decided that this was a good day to go outside. We attempted twice to go to the beach, but got chased back to the car by the wind and rain. We did manage to go see some resting sea turtles on the beach and surfers on sizable waves.
They joined me on part of the preschool excursion, where the children got to make their cookies n' cream ice cream (way cool).
That afternoon they watched the girls for a bit so I could catch some waves and that evening we went Christmas caroling with our ward. It was a lot of fun.
Well, before Grandma came out, her hairdresser told her she ought to cut her hair short because Hawaii is windy and rainy. I think she may have placed a curse on Hawaii because we are having quite a storm! It came Wednesday night, with sheets of rain and high winds for 8+hrs straight.
It was exciting to listen to, but I was mostly kept up by Elysse's crying. She got a fever during the night, and she and Ivy are both feverish and coughing, and Elysse has a runny nose: All the symptoms of a sickness that has been snaking its way around the North Shore lately, so apparently it's highly contagious, and we are crossing our fingers and toes that Grandma and Grandpa don't catch it, asking Grandma and Grandpa not to touch the sick girls, and chowing down Echinacea.
That morning, Thursday morning, I took Kezia to school. We drove along the road until we got to a place that was flooded; the river was overflowing. There was a van signaling us to pass him. I stopped by him and he said he has seen other cars go through, but he wasn't going to. Well, I thought, if a van isn't going to try, then I'm not! But just then a truck came to my other window and said to just stay in the middle and don't stop and I'll be fine, and that a lot of cars have gone through. So I thought, alright. But what I couldn't see was that the flood continued on around the bend. We passed a stranded car, and Kezia and I were cheering on the Isuzu as the water level was past our tires. At one point the car was going slowly and I was afraid it would give up on us, but we made it through...only to find that school was canceled. And by this point, the police had closed the road. The other road we could take back home was worse than this one, so we heard, with lots of cars stranded and deep puddles. I was considering going through again (we made it through once, we could make it again!) But I am grateful I decided instead to park the car and walked through, because while we were walking there was a large truck towing another large truck out. Kezia was super-brave and I kept her going through the water with a 1-2,1-2 count. The water at one point was up to my knees, and up to her waist. So that was our big adventure.
(This picture doesn't even do it justice. This was a few hours after, and the water has subsided some. And this isn't even where the water was deep, although you can see it is covering the road and the sidewalk and the field)
Grandma and Grandpa were going to go to the submarine ride, but it was canceled too because of weather. Grandma and I played Waterworks, Grandpa and I ran some errands. It was great to go around with Grandpa and see how he struck up a conversation with every person he came in contact with, and made them smile. The girls took advantage of the sun peeking through the clouds to play outside, and that evening they walked with the girls to the playground. (I made sure that this time we were well-connected with phones just in case.) I went outside to read, when I saw some light drops of rain. I left to go get them, and as soon as we reached home, it came down HARD again!! We all felt lucky that I came when I did (since we just live down the road from the playground.) Grandma said Grandpa had a hard time walking, that he was feeling off-balance.
That night, Thursday night, the wind blew. Elysse and Ivy woke up in Friday morning still sick, and Elysse continued on her cries for the whole day , (later we found out she had an ear infection, poor thing) except when she was sleeping. Ivy was in high spirits, though. Grandma stayed home and did laundry while Grandpa and I ran errands. Grandpa was kind enough to dry out our tools that were outside during the storm. (which will have to be done again, since I trusted the blue sky and returned them outside. Duh!)
Well, this afternoon I prepared dinner to take with us to the Christmas parade, and as we were getting ready to go, it started to rain, and thunder and lightening. We decided to go see if the parade was still going on. Well, we happened to be really blessed and this is why: First of all Grandma decided she was too tired to go. If she had gone, she would have been miserable, I think, because it was definitely RAINING. We drove to the starting point of the parade, and were not allowed to go down the road where the parade would be going on. So that meant we got to watch the parade from where they were filing all the paraders in the order in which to go. We only walked 25 feet from our car, which meant Grandpa didn't have to walk very far, and we saw the hour-long parade in only 18 minutes, since all the paraders and floats were crammed together. That was super, because 1. I forgot to get a chair for Grandpa, 2. Kezia and Elysse had fallen asleep during the 5 minute drive to the parade, and 3. I didn't want our sick girls to be exposed to the cold wet air for that long. Besides, after we arrived home, the rain came down harder. So we felt really blessed. Afterward, Grandpa and I said that it was perfectly (un)planned.
After we arrived home, Grandma and Grandpa fell asleep and Nate and I bullied an 11-ft box with surfboards inside to our back porch through the pouring rain. Now all is quiet except for snores and coughs.
The girls have enjoyed reading with Grandma and Grandpa, listening to Grandpa's songs, and watching his magic tricks, reminding me of the Grandpa I knew when I was young.
Saturday Grandma and I went to Walmart to pick up a few essentials, then we headed to Laie to go to the PCC (Polynesian Cultural Center) (hoping the foreboding clouds in the sky were merely an illusion). I droped them off with hats, an umbrella, and the wheelchair and I left to congratulate my friend Leslie on her graduation and say goodbye as she heads off to the mainland to get married. While I was at the BYU campus, (right next to the PCC), the rain came down HARD! The type where you step out and when you come in, you look like a shower head yourself. I returned to the PCC with sweaters and found Grandma and Grandpa struggling with the wheelchair and ready to return home. However, a guide graciously found them a place to watch the canoe pagaent under cover, and then she stayed with them until another guide took over and helped them for the whole time. And the front desk only asked them to pay $10 for admission. See? It pays to get old.
Monday was a lot of fun. We went to the beach and played. Grandpa and Ivy enjoyed sharing pretzels and pumpkin dip on the shore while Grandpa called out to whomever was in the water to turn around and pose for a picture.
Well, before Grandma came out, her hairdresser told her she ought to cut her hair short because Hawaii is windy and rainy. I think she may have placed a curse on Hawaii because we are having quite a storm! It came Wednesday night, with sheets of rain and high winds for 8+hrs straight.
It was exciting to listen to, but I was mostly kept up by Elysse's crying. She got a fever during the night, and she and Ivy are both feverish and coughing, and Elysse has a runny nose: All the symptoms of a sickness that has been snaking its way around the North Shore lately, so apparently it's highly contagious, and we are crossing our fingers and toes that Grandma and Grandpa don't catch it, asking Grandma and Grandpa not to touch the sick girls, and chowing down Echinacea.
That morning, Thursday morning, I took Kezia to school. We drove along the road until we got to a place that was flooded; the river was overflowing. There was a van signaling us to pass him. I stopped by him and he said he has seen other cars go through, but he wasn't going to. Well, I thought, if a van isn't going to try, then I'm not! But just then a truck came to my other window and said to just stay in the middle and don't stop and I'll be fine, and that a lot of cars have gone through. So I thought, alright. But what I couldn't see was that the flood continued on around the bend. We passed a stranded car, and Kezia and I were cheering on the Isuzu as the water level was past our tires. At one point the car was going slowly and I was afraid it would give up on us, but we made it through...only to find that school was canceled. And by this point, the police had closed the road. The other road we could take back home was worse than this one, so we heard, with lots of cars stranded and deep puddles. I was considering going through again (we made it through once, we could make it again!) But I am grateful I decided instead to park the car and walked through, because while we were walking there was a large truck towing another large truck out. Kezia was super-brave and I kept her going through the water with a 1-2,1-2 count. The water at one point was up to my knees, and up to her waist. So that was our big adventure.
(This picture doesn't even do it justice. This was a few hours after, and the water has subsided some. And this isn't even where the water was deep, although you can see it is covering the road and the sidewalk and the field)Grandma and Grandpa were going to go to the submarine ride, but it was canceled too because of weather. Grandma and I played Waterworks, Grandpa and I ran some errands. It was great to go around with Grandpa and see how he struck up a conversation with every person he came in contact with, and made them smile. The girls took advantage of the sun peeking through the clouds to play outside, and that evening they walked with the girls to the playground. (I made sure that this time we were well-connected with phones just in case.) I went outside to read, when I saw some light drops of rain. I left to go get them, and as soon as we reached home, it came down HARD again!! We all felt lucky that I came when I did (since we just live down the road from the playground.) Grandma said Grandpa had a hard time walking, that he was feeling off-balance.
That night, Thursday night, the wind blew. Elysse and Ivy woke up in Friday morning still sick, and Elysse continued on her cries for the whole day , (later we found out she had an ear infection, poor thing) except when she was sleeping. Ivy was in high spirits, though. Grandma stayed home and did laundry while Grandpa and I ran errands. Grandpa was kind enough to dry out our tools that were outside during the storm. (which will have to be done again, since I trusted the blue sky and returned them outside. Duh!)
Well, this afternoon I prepared dinner to take with us to the Christmas parade, and as we were getting ready to go, it started to rain, and thunder and lightening. We decided to go see if the parade was still going on. Well, we happened to be really blessed and this is why: First of all Grandma decided she was too tired to go. If she had gone, she would have been miserable, I think, because it was definitely RAINING. We drove to the starting point of the parade, and were not allowed to go down the road where the parade would be going on. So that meant we got to watch the parade from where they were filing all the paraders in the order in which to go. We only walked 25 feet from our car, which meant Grandpa didn't have to walk very far, and we saw the hour-long parade in only 18 minutes, since all the paraders and floats were crammed together. That was super, because 1. I forgot to get a chair for Grandpa, 2. Kezia and Elysse had fallen asleep during the 5 minute drive to the parade, and 3. I didn't want our sick girls to be exposed to the cold wet air for that long. Besides, after we arrived home, the rain came down harder. So we felt really blessed. Afterward, Grandpa and I said that it was perfectly (un)planned.
After we arrived home, Grandma and Grandpa fell asleep and Nate and I bullied an 11-ft box with surfboards inside to our back porch through the pouring rain. Now all is quiet except for snores and coughs.
The girls have enjoyed reading with Grandma and Grandpa, listening to Grandpa's songs, and watching his magic tricks, reminding me of the Grandpa I knew when I was young.
Saturday Grandma and I went to Walmart to pick up a few essentials, then we headed to Laie to go to the PCC (Polynesian Cultural Center) (hoping the foreboding clouds in the sky were merely an illusion). I droped them off with hats, an umbrella, and the wheelchair and I left to congratulate my friend Leslie on her graduation and say goodbye as she heads off to the mainland to get married. While I was at the BYU campus, (right next to the PCC), the rain came down HARD! The type where you step out and when you come in, you look like a shower head yourself. I returned to the PCC with sweaters and found Grandma and Grandpa struggling with the wheelchair and ready to return home. However, a guide graciously found them a place to watch the canoe pagaent under cover, and then she stayed with them until another guide took over and helped them for the whole time. And the front desk only asked them to pay $10 for admission. See? It pays to get old.
We were planning on taking the quickest route down to Honolulu to get to the ship, but I changed my mindafter someone mentioned the road had closed a few days before because of mudslides, and it occured to me that if we get stuck, we are stuck; there's no other road. Well, I am very glad we went back the other way, because we drove through quite a few large pools of water and through heavy rain. I am doubtful we would have made it the other way. Here's a funny story. On the way back we passed Hukilau beach. I asked Grandpa if he has heard about the Hukilau (Who key lau) beach. Grandma was in the back seat and couldn't hear well. Her eyes widened at what she thought she heard, "Bahookie beach?!? BAHOOOKIE?!?"
Now it is Sunday the 21st. Grandma and Grandpa returned from their cruise yesterday (Saturday) morning and now I am thoroughly convinced I should go on a cruise. They looked so refreshed and relaxed!! They raved about the food and how their room was made up every time they returned to it and the excursions they were on (except for one 8 hr. drive on bumpy roads through a barren landscape), the pools, saunas, and spas on the ship. They said they had a great time. But they only took 2 pictures!!!
Ironic how such a relaxing trip can knock you out. They didn't do much yesterday beside nap and relax. Grandpa had caught a bad cough on the last day of the cruise, so today (Sunday) they stayed home.
Last week we really haven't had time to talk or do anything besides care for the kids and our tummies. I don't think they really knew what they were getting themselves into when they said they just want to come out and see what our family does. I just hope they don't feel like a burden, because it's an honor having them here. It was so nice today to just sit and talk and laugh (which was unkind to Grandpa's cough) but it was great to finally put a slow-down and just talk and laugh. We learned about all the boys that were after Aunt Katherine, aobut how my mom really wasn't that bad in their minds, and about how Aunt Sherri got cold feet with Uncle David.
Right now they are at the beach with Nate and Kezia. Nate's been trying extra hard to get Grandma to eat some chocolate. And we are all anxious to see who will get the first spanking from Grandma, since she's made the threat. :) They leave tomorrow night.
Monday was a lot of fun. We went to the beach and played. Grandpa and Ivy enjoyed sharing pretzels and pumpkin dip on the shore while Grandpa called out to whomever was in the water to turn around and pose for a picture.
Grandma made a beeline for the water and she was so funny! She sat next to the water, and panicked a little when a ripple would come. And I guess when you're as light as Grandma, you ought to panick a little, because the water would push her almost 180 degrees! And then she'd laugh and wait for another ripple to come. Kezia enjoyed sitting with her, as well as I. We picked up tiny shells and pieces of coral.
She and I talked a bit about when she was young, about the cherry tree in her yard that the neighborhood boys would climb and eat the cherries and how her mom would squirt the hose at them. She told me about strict Grandpa Smart who was a stake president for 25 years and they always had to wear skirts when he came around because he didn't approve of girls in shorts. She told me about how he settled the Ducshene/ Roosevelt area of Utah, and would start up banks and shops and such and then coax businessmen to come in and take over. She told me how she loved hanging out with her cousins. And she told me about her father the entrepreneur who quite his job with a Charm cosmetic company to begin his own line: "Charmetics", and the successful line of perm machines that turned off when a woman's hair perm was just right. Ooh-la-la! Grandma said she was the guinea pig for showing off how good the machine was because her hair was so fine, so it always gave her a good perm.
Did you know Grandma didn't wear any makeup here? I commented how good she looked, how much color she has, and she said it's because you are what you eat, and she eats really well. So there you have it. Speaking of looks, it was humourous to watch Grandma insist on she and Grandpa wearing "Hawaiian" clothes while they were here. ("No, Roger, you're in Hawaii. You will not wear that outfit. You will wear this one with the flowers. Now put this on and we'll save this one for when we return home.") They looked so comfortable and relaxed in their colorful "Hawaiian" clothes that it was almost stiffening to see them slip into their brown and blue polyester and silk "Utah" outfits for the trip back home.
It was so wonderful to have them here.
4 comments:
I love hearing about your grandparents and feel like I know them a little bit after reading this, now all I need is a picture of them to go with it. I love how optimistic you are and I see here that it is a genetic thing. What lovely grandparents and how lucky you are to spend so much time with you and your family. -Erica
Thanks, Erica
WHAT!?! She won't have chocolate?! LIES. After the reunion, when we brought our ice cream stuff to their house, she only wanted chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips and chocolate syrup on top. Give that woman some chocolate.
Thanks for the pics. I absolutely love them! The pic with your grandma sitting in the water and laughing reminds me so much of you. They look so natural in Hawaii! Thanks again for sharing. Erica
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