The adventures of yesterday~

As you know, we travelled to Eureka, SD yesterday to visit my grandparents...



First, we went to my dad's folks' house to visit with them for a while. They've found out recently that grandpa Earl needs to go on Dialysis and, consequently, they're planning to move to Mandan so they're close to the hospital that grandpa will need to go to every other day or so. Grandma's trying to go through all their belongings and decide which things they will need and which they'll have to get rid of when they move... The place they've looked at is about the third of the size as the house they're living in now! Grandma took us downstairs and asked us if we'd like this or that, ("This or that" being things like games and puzzles for the boys and sewing supplies for mom and I.)



Once we returned upstairs, Grandpa gave the boys each a really nice belt buckle and me a wooden plate that he had gotten over the years when he was a Keltgen seed representative. Then Grandma brought out a small box and handed it to Grandpa. Inside were all of the buttons and badges that Grandpa had had in the army..... He wanted us children to each have one of his buttons and a couple of his badges and he told us what they were each for..... At first, I picked out the button he got for being a sharpshooter, but then Jacob decided he really wished to have that one, so I let him have it and then choose another button--the one that has the medical sign on it from when Grandpa was a medic during the war.



At 3:00, we headed over to the assisted living building to visit grandpa Harvey. Uncle Rick and his son, Benny were there too and Aunt Sharel also stopped in for a little while, so we had a small family reunion.




Grandpa is doing so well where he is now and only complains about putting on 8 pounds since he's been eating such good cooking. :) He walks so much better than he used to and seems more cheerful too.



We visited for a while, then the boys got out a game and we cousins played it for a while. While we were playing, Mom dug out some hymns and sang with Grandpa and another old friend who's living there...



I thought it was really funny when cousin Ben asked me how old I was, as he couldn't remember, and he was shocked when I told him my age (lots of people think I look younger than I really am...) He said he thought I was just a little older than him--the truth of the matter being that I remember holding him as a baby when I was 8 years old. :)



This "Old friend" of my moms used to be my parents' neighbor when they were newly-weds and she is such an inspiration to many! Mary taught my mom a lot about gardening and taught her how to save seeds. She's been a Sabbath-keeper for years and now that we rest on Saturdays too, Mom has even more in common with this dear lady... I only remember meeting Mary once before and that was many years ago, but she remembers me from when I was a baby. When Mom asked her if she remembered her (my mom's) children's' names, Mary replied without hesitating, "Cora, Andrew and Jacob." Then Grandpa said that she also knows where we live, so Mother asked her where we live and she answered correctly, "Kintyre." Mary lost her husband a few years ago, but she is still being a blessing to others and lives with only a little assistant from the nurses there! Even though Mary's sight isn't very good anymore, she spends her time learning scripture verses and words to hymns by listening to them on tapes. She's also got a streak of match-making in her, and I'm beginning to wonder if every woman does? She said she has a really nice grand nephew who's single and who's a Sabbath-keeper....... :)



And now, do you want to guess how old dear Mary is? Here's a picture of her (with my mom) so you can have a better chance of guessing her age...

Did you guess?



Mary is 99 years old!!! What a wonderful example of a joyful Christian woman she is.



After saying our goodbyes to Grandpa, we went over to his house to take back some kettles that we'd cleaned out earlier and to clean out the rest of the items in his fridge, as he asked us to take care of that. Once fnished, we went to the Lyric Lanes restaurant to eat supper with Uncle Rick, Ben, and Ricks' friend Robin and her granddaughter. Grandpa Harvey had insisted we take some money and go out to eat before heading home, but we couldn't talk him into coming with us because he was scared of falling on the ice... We had a tasty supper of traditional, unhealthy American food and then headed home late to do our chores.



And today------we get to find room in our house for all the things we brought home yesterday! :)