A Weekend with Gram

The day after Seth & Miranda's wedding we picked up Gram at my cousin Keith's football game and headed to Arimo. As we were leaving the football field she spotted a hop scotch and decided to have a go.

She was insistent that she have her book out of her purse in the trunk. I figured it'd be some literary classic but she pulled out this:

We laughed and tried to answer trivia. This is so my grandma. She was a beloved English and drama teacher at Marsh Valley High School for 30 years and can quote any play or musical ever written but still likes to read bathroom trivia. I was excited to have her trapped in the car for a few hours so I could ask her tons of questions. She told us stories of grandpa and his childhood in Bancroft. She told us about her parents and their journey from Kansas to Washington.

We stopped for lunch at flags west in Downey. She knew half of the people there including the waitress. We went into Downey for a few groceries and then headed home for some naps.

In the evening we had a frozen pizza and played cards. She taught me how to make Swiss steak. I love her Swiss steak! We played continental rummy and she called me a little shit. We started on a game of phase 10 but got too sleepy. After a few episodes of the Big Bang Theory we retired to bed.

In the morning I made biscuits and gravy. We tossed the prepared Swiss steak in the oven and headed to church. I always love going to church in Arimo. Nothing changes there. People's families grow but everyone is still the same.

Sunday afternoons at Grams are the best. We put a puzzle together, started another one and lazed about the house. I dug through the recipe box and pulled out some of my favorites to copy and take with me. There was the chocolate cake she would make for my Grandpa- according to him chocolate cake was the only cake worth having-, carmel corn, fudge, pancakes, rhubarb cake and zucchini bread. I have already used these a few times in the last couple months and look forward to eating lots of carmel corn for years to come.

I spent the afternoon with my camera trying to capture the beauty of this place. It's probably nothing too special to anyone else but like I've said before, Arimo holds a special kind of magic for me. Something about the memories there with my cousins and grandparents makes it near and dear to my heart.

This old tack shed with it's halo or barbed wire still holds the saddles on which we used to ride Peppy, Barney, Duke and Tono from the time we were babies. The bridles my Grandpa taught us to put on the horses to lead them up the hill of the pasture. Horseshoes used by my grandpa as he would fix and protect the horse's hooves. Watching my Grandpa farrier horses was where I learned all my cuss words.

Under this tree in the back yard I remember sitting on a blanket eating tuna fish sandwiches and classic Lays potato chips in the summer. We loved spending our week at Gram and Gramp's house each year. There's a piece of bailing twine grown into the trunk of this tree. One of the cousins tied it there years and years ago, we all thought it was so cool when the tree started growing around it.

After a long weekend at the "Lazy JK" ranch it was time for us to head back home to Boston. I was so glad we got the chance to spend a little one on one time with Gram. She really is one of my very most favorite people in the entire world. I always say when I grow up I want to be just like her because she's still so young at heart. She's goofy and fun, she's wise beyond measure and she has hoards of adoring grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She doesn't have much worldly wealth to speak of but to me she is the richest woman I have ever met.