I am Grandma

There are three Grandmas that have been a blessing in my life.  One of these I knew as a child while growing up, Grandma James.  One of these special Grandmas I have never met because Grandma Homer has been watching me from heaven throughout my life.  The other Grandma in my life is my children’s grandma, my wonderful, loving Mother, Elaine Homer.  Each of these women I admire and love.  Each of these women has taught me to honor and respect the name Grandma.

When my first grandchild, Jackson was born it was an exciting day!  His birth gave me the blessing of being a Grandma for the very first time. As I entered this new phase of life I realized that a new responsibility was being handed to me.  By carrying the name Grandma I was taking on a role and title of great importance.  Grandma is a teacher, an example, and one who gives unconditional love.  Grandma spends time with you and makes you feel like you’re the most important person in the world.  Grandma is usually the glue that keeps the whole big family together.  Grandma cooks and makes the best food and treats that she loves to share with everyone.  Grandma serves others and always teaches love and compassion by how she lives.  Oh, the list of things that Grandmas do just goes on and on.  Every Grandma is different but I think the most important gift a Grandma gives her grandchildren is love.

I’ve been a Grandma for quite a few months now and friends and acquaintances are always so excited to discuss with me my feelings on the subject.  The number one question that has been tossed in my direction is, “What are you going to be called?” At the time of Jackson’s birth I didn’t realize there were different options for the sacred title of Grandma.  I just assumed that I would be called Grandma.  But alas, there seems to be a new trend out there. The new “grandmotherly generation” is embracing the idea of picking out cool, hip names to replace the once traditional name of Grandma.  I have to admit that I thought about my newly acquired title for a bit and even tossed around some creative names for my grandchildren to call me.  It did not take me long to realize that I wanted to be called Grandma, just plain old Grandma.

For the next season of my life I want to be Grandma.  It will be an honor for me if my grandchildren associate that name with someone who loves them.  I want them to know that when they use the name of Grandma, I will be there for them.  We are connected forever.  Grandma is a beautiful name.  I love and respect the Grandmas in my life.  I will forever be grateful to carry the name of the strong, exemplary women in my life who I called Grandma.  And that’s what I want to be called. 

A Little Heat

You all know that moment on Sunday evening where you just start digging in the pantry looking for a snack.  Well, we pulled out a brand new jar of salsa and a bag of chips.  That salsa was a new brand we had never tried and it looked pretty good.  And it was pretty darn tasty but it was super HOT!  We just kept eating it because it tasted so yummy but our mouths were burning up!  We tried to cut the spiciness by adding sour cream and it did help a little.  By the time we were done with our snack we all had burning mouths and throats and our eyes and noses were running.  The lid is back on the salsa and is sitting on the shelf waiting for it's next victim.

Dragon Boat Festival

I took these two goofballs to the annual Dragon Boat Festival this year.  Easton had a school assignment to participate in some sort of cultural event and write a report about it.  We chose the Dragon boat festival in Gainesville, Georgia at the sight of the Olympic rowing competition back in 1996.  The weather was perfect as we wandered around the festival and watched the Dragon boat teams of 12-20 participants competed on the water.  The races were intense as teams tried to row in perfect rhythm to gain the win and the end of the race.  Each of the long and festively decorated boats have a leader/caller who shouts rowing instructions to the rowers whose backs are to the finish line.  The leader is the only one on the team who can see the ultimate finish line.  There is also a drummer in the back of the boat who beats steadily on a drum.  The rowers will paddle together with each beat of the drum.  The drummer will speed up the beat when he wants the team to go faster.  It was fascinating to watch the teams work together to achieve success at the finish line.  The teams that were in sync were the fastest on the water and ultimately won the race.

The festivities included the traditional dragon dance which we had awesome seats for.

Easton and his friend, Ethan pose.

Everyone at the festival had these large, icey drinks and were just literally guzzling them.  We decided that they looked pretty good and wanted in on the action..  It is sugar cane juice that is literally squeezed out of sugar cane.  We watched as the cane was placed in a large metal gear and the worker turned a crank.  The cane was pulled in between the large gears and squashed flat.  A cup was placed beneath the spout where the sweet liquid was dispensed.  Well.....we didn't like it.  Not one bit!  I took two sips and was done.  It kind of tasted like sweetened hay water.  That's the only way I can describe it.  Bleh.  Dallin had talked about this drink with fondness which he drank on the streets of Brazil.  We took it home and froze it in a jar and hopefully Dallin will love it when he comes back into town.

A lunch stop at Zaxbys for some good ol' greasy American food!

Spooky Tunes

One of my favorite moments being a piano teacher is watching my students perform in our Fall recital.  It's our casual recital when the children get to wear their Halloween costumes and we just have some fun sharing our talents and spooky music.

October seems to be a very busy season for my students and this year was no exception.  I was missing over half of my students due to baseball games, girl scout camps, boy scout merit badge clinics, and vacations.  We had fun without them...who doesn't enjoy playing your recital piece while wearing a costume?!?

Blessings and more Blessings

It was a special day last Sunday for this family even though Jackson doesn't look too thrilled.  Brandon was able to give Jackson a blessing.  Stephen and I were so happy to be able to to be there in Utah and share in this special time for Ashton and Brandon.  The blessing took place at my parents, Russ and Elaine Homer's home.  My sister, Janelle had her new little baby, Evelyn blessed as well.  It was a beautiful day spent with family.  This post has a ton of pictures...I had a hard time limiting it to just a few since Jackson is such a cutie.

 Jackson and his Grandpa

 A beautiful family

 Jackson and his daddy, Brandon

 Jackson was so done taking pictures!

 Uncle Dallin loves his little nephew.

 Sweet baby Evelyn

 Jackson's cute little mocassins

Evelyn and Jackson

Cougars Homecoming 2015

Stephen and I both graduated from Brigham Young University...our blood runs BLUE!  We were excited to be able to attend the BYU Homecoming 2015 game this year.  We got tickets to go to the Saturday evening game and invited Mom and Dad to go with us since they are also BYU Graduates.  What a legacy!

We headed down to Provo early to try to beat some of the traffic and to go to lunch with Ashton and baby Jackson.  We had a burger and fries at In and Out burger.

Uncle Easton loves holding his nephew, Jackson!

Here we are at the game and ready to cheer our Cougars to victory.

What an amazing setting for a college football game.

Dallin joined us after halftime since we had a couple of empty seats in front of us.

And BYU barely pulls off a win!  It was a fun game full of fumbles, interceptions and touchdowns.  So glad we were able to experience the energy of being in the stadium with thousands of  people cheering on our Cougars and glad to be able to spend time with family.

One Step at a Time

When I was in Utah over the summer we took an awesome hike to the Bear Canyon Suspension bridge above Wasatch Boulevard in Draper.  The Bear Canyon Suspension Bridge is located on the east side of Draper in the foothills of the Wasatch Mountain Range. The bridge spans 185 feet across Bear Canyon and connects the Bonneville Shoreline Trail.  Since it is new this year and my parents have never seen it, I convinced them to take the hike when I was visiting this weekend.  It's about a mile hike to the bridge and I was pretty confident that they could do it.  I remembered it being fairly easy with just a few steep parts.  I thought they could take it slow and steady and make it just fine.

Well, it was an adventure to be sure!  It ended up being a little steeper and a little longer than I had remembered and the parents kind of struggled.  My mom tripped on the very first step and went down.  She wasn't hurt and we got a good laugh out of it.  It wasn't the best way to start a hike!  With their walking sticks in hand, they just kept plugging along.  I kept thinking the bridge was just around the corner and then it wasn't.  Oh well....we actually did finally make it to the bridge and took in the beautiful view of the valley.

Kamryn, Stephen, and Easton were the first ones to reach the bridge.

Mom chose not to walk across the bridge because it can be a little bouncy and it sways.  She just rested on the bench.

Easton

Enjoying the view off the bridge...the reward after the long, hot hike.

We definitely had an adventure and made some new memories.  My dad said he was glad he saw it but he was never doing that again!