We flew out to Colorado yesterday (and yes, flew home today) to celebrate my grandma great's 100th birthday! Can you believe it? 100 years and still going strong. We debated for several weeks about whether we would go or not but once I got a letter from my grandma great that she had written for all her posterity, I knew we had to go. So the only choice was 1 1/2 hours confined in a plane or 10+ hours confined in a car. Hard choice, I know. I really don't get how my friends and family travel so long with little kids. How on earth do you keep them entertained without going bonkers singing "Jesus wants me for a Sunbeam" and reading Elmo books over and over again? I'm a whimp, I admit it!
Thank goodness for a laptop and Shrek!Pearl didn't really get the whole idea about going in the airplane at first. She does love to see airplanes but going to bed late the night before and then getting woke up 2 hours earlier than normal didn't exactly help her enthusiasm. She did enjoy running up and down the airport as fast as she could though and found the escalators and baggage claims fascinating. She was about as good as we could have hoped for, being so tired, and even made a couple of new friends who sat in front of us. I was really worried at first, two dudes sitting in front of us - I didn't expect them to be so excited to have a kid behind them. With some snacks, books, and a movie (again we're whimps and will pull out the Disney/Pixar movies to keep Pearl quiet if need be), we made it to Denver. We rented a car, much to Jeff's disappointment they didn't have the G6 he signed up for online, and headed to Sterling.
Pearl fell asleep almost as soon as we strapped her in the carseat. It was a long day of flying for her!Pearl was thrilled to finally see grandpa, grandma, and Uncle Kurtis when we arrived at the party! She spent the whole weekend following Kurt around and begging him for his attention. I think he got a bit sick of her, after all she did eat all his Goldfish crackers and was constantly saying "Kurt!" Sadly, I didn't know any of my dad's family, with the exception of his uncle and aunt (and of course my grandma great).
I can't believe my little brother isn't so little anymore! I remember him as a 5 year old (I still think he likes Pokeman) who used to come with me to Sociology and Institute, not a teenager with floppy hair. I almost didn't recognize him when we I saw him!
He He! We saw this tiny cattle statues near the hotel and made Kurtis get out of the car and ride one for a picture! He's 14 and finds family boring but this got a good giggle out of him.
We really should get a professional family picture taken.They had all this family history displayed and pictures of not just my grandma great but my grandpa when he was a baby. Stuff I'd never seen before, and probably stuff my own grandpa hadn't seen before. I left thinking I really need to learn my family history and get copies of this stuff - not to mention try to write my own family history with my relatives still living! It was so fun to read about my grandma's life and hear about the things she has seen in her life. Amazing, simply amazing to think of the progress made, the number of U.S. Presidents she's seen in office, the technology changes (yes, she has email and loves it), and the struggles she has gone through in her lifetime. I wish I knew her better...she is a beautiful and amazing woman. And man is she sharp!
Seriously, my grandma great is more with it than I am! She remembered things I had completely forgotten about and every single person at her party (and there were a lot of people there) was greeted with a story and memory she had about them. Mine is always the same, that I'm not her Jenny. She has a granddaughter named Jenny (ironically her brother is a Jeff) and since my real name is Jenette, I'm not Jenny but Jenette. She's always told me that as long as I can remember.
I just love this picture! Too bad there's a screaming 21 month old in it. My grandma great is reminding me that I'm not her Jenny and I can't help but laugh and say "I know Grandma" (and yes, I'm sporting a side ponytail with a flower...geez am I like 5?).She was also so excited to talk to me about the time we had dinner in Nauvoo. My grandparents were serving a mission there and my girlfriends and I decided to take a road trip to see them. It's a long story but my grandparents hadn't been active in the church for close to 50 years and my grandpa wasn't exactly missionary worthy at the time. Well, my Grandma Peacock (my grandma's mom) had just passed away and when my grandparents were visiting her before she died, my grandpa was telling her he wished he would have been better and she said it wasn't too late. A few weeks after she died, they got a phone call from their stake president asking them to consider serving a mission to Nauvoo during the temple reconstruction. After stubbornly praying about it, my grandpa decided to go and off they went! Well, my trip to see them just happened to coincide with my grandma great's trip to Nauvoo. We had dinner with my grandparents and grandma great and it was wonderful! I couldn't believe that I had forgotten about it until my grandma great starting talking about how fun it was seeing me there. She was so proud of her son for going on a mission and just glowed with pride!
Another favorite memory I have is the first time she met Jeff. It was a couple months before we got married and she was in Salt Lake visiting. She sat Jeff down for a little "approval" interview and made him show her his temple recommend as proof he was a good boy. Luckily she approved and was quick to ask him if he had a job on Sunday - apparently that's a follow-up question to his initial approval into the family. Oh and how she loved Pearl...too bad Pearl didn't find her nearly as intriguing. She was too busy trying to escape my death grip on her arms to really say hi to her great-great grandma, let alone look happy for pictures!
At least I got my five generation shot, even if Pearl was screaming and grandma great was too busy chatting with friends to pose.
L-R: Grandpa, my Dad, Pearl, me, and Grandma Great
L-R: My dad, mom, Kurtis, Jeff, Pearl, me, Grandma Great, and GrandpaI am so grateful I have been able to personally know and remember three of my great grandmas. Their lives are such an example of endurance, cheerfulness, and a never-faltering faith in our Savior. I wish I had taken more time to write letters to them, call them, and learn from them. My grandma great said that family is the most important thing in this life and after this weekend's quick trip, I have a renewed desire to do my family history, love and serve my family, and be a better example to them. Here's to another 100 years!
