Mamie

I was hoping to get on here with photos of our trip to the Bethlehem Fair but those will have to wait. I am not sure who might remember reading an entry on here about my grandfather, Poppy. He is my mom's father. He passed away 3 years ago this THanksgiving. He left behind a big family which included his wife, Mamie. They had been married 64 years. Well, now they are together again.

Mamie is an amazing woman. At only 4'9" and about 90 pounds she was a little spitfire. She and Poppy raised 5 children and enjoyed 19 grandchildren and now 12 great-grandchildren. When I was younger I can remember Mamie having heart surgery but you would have never known it. She loved going in her garden, taking long walks, and baking brownies. Every day as a little girl my mother would ask what I wanted to do. I would simply tell her we had to go to Mamie's house. It is there that I learned how to bake. Brownies were our specialty. We spent hours just talking, playing, and baking brownies. The house was always full of laughter and that rich chocolatey smell. When I went away to college, she even baked a batch of brownies for me and had my mom ship them to me. Nothing says home like brownies from Mamie!

This summer had been a difficult one. Mamie was going to the hospital and doctors more often. It seemed like her body was just giving out. After Poppy passed away she just didn't seem like the same person. I am happy that she at least got to see Mike and me bring Colby home. I know that made her happy. Colby and I went and visited with her last Thursday during that trip to the hospital. Her eyes just lit up the room when she saw him. She was excited to see him and enjoyed feeding him her lunch, even though I scolded her for not eating it herself. We even got to see Luke, the therapy dog. Colby told her, "Mamie...booboo....all better.". It almost broke my heart. He gave her a big kiss and said, "Luh you!" as we left. I will always remember that day.

Today Mamie passed away. She leaves behind 5 children and spouses, 19 grandchildren with many spouses, and 12 great-grandchildren. She will be greatly missed. There is and will never be anyone like Mamie and Poppy. Colby will never see a Thanksgiving or Christmas with Mamie, he only had 6 months with her, but I will make sure that he remembers the special moments that they did share together. And I know that she is telling Poppy all about my crazy little boy. Goodbye Mamie. I will love you and Poppy always! And try to stay out of trouble you two!

Our First Easter!

What a busy weekend we had. Mike and I were a little worried how Colby would handle our hectic Easter schedule, but he was a real trooper. A little cranky today and very tired but he had a blast.

Mike's sister Trisha and her husband AJ were here from Cleveland. It was their first meeting with Colby. We had a quick imprompto pizza party on Friday night to celebrate. Aunt Trisha and Uncle AJ presented Colby with his birthday present.

On Saturday we celebrated Easter with Mike's Dad's family. We really luck out with that. His family is very large and in order to have everyone together they had long since decided to do Easter and Christmas the day before. So, we got dressed up and went to Grandpa and Gram's house down the street. Colby enjoyed his first Easter Egg Hunt there. A quick indoor one due to the rain.

Then Sunday we celebrated with my mom's family at Mamie's house. First we went to church though. Another new experience for Colby. He did really well sitting through the service without any fuss. He even entertained the elderly gentlemen sitting behind us. The celebration at Mamie's was right at nap time so Colby didn't have his nap, another new experience. I was worried he would be cranky but he had a great time. We had another Easter candy hunt and Colby had his first ride on a miniature horse. My grandfather, Poppy, was the ultimate cowboy. I am sure I have mentioned him in previous blog entries. When I was growing up he had 3 horses. He taught me how to ride at an early age. When I went to college, Poppy started his miniature horse farm. At one time he had almost 200 miniature horses and Shetland ponies. Now that he has pasted away, most of the horses are gone but there are a few left on the farm. Colby rode on one of them. It was a slightly bittersweet moment. I wish Poppy could have seen him. But Colby had a great time and looked so cute. I really do need to find him a cowboy hat.

Well, here are a few Easter photos. Enjoy!

Here I am with Aunt Trisha and Uncle AJ.

Playing baseball with Grandpa on Saturday. Thankfully the rain stopped.

My first Easter Egg Hunt. Did I get them all?

Easter morning. Where did this candy come from? My basket was empty last night!

Don't I look grown up?

Playing with my cousins. Teddy is on the bottom and Max is on the top.

Enjoying a Jello Easter Egg with Mommy's cousin Stacy.

Horse kisses with Mommy.

Riding my first horse. Where's my cowboy hat?

A roll in the grass. Hunting Easter candy is hard work.

Rolling in the grass with Mommy.

Enjoying chocolate with Daddy. Yum Yum!

Traditions....Poppy

Christmas has always been a very special time of year for my family. Coming from a big family, celebrating Christmas meant spending time with a lot of people. I can't remember a Christmas that I have ever spent with less than 20 people. And today is no different. In the number sense anyway.

We always went to my grnadparents house for Christmas. Mamie and Poppy. They are my mom's parents. My mom is one of 5 children and my grandparents now have 19 grandchildren (about half of whom are married) and 12 great-grandchildren. Needless to say, it creates a huge family gathering. And we love it. Everyone brings a side dish or dessert. My Aunt Linda always makes the apple pie and Christmas tree bread. Poppy always made the ham or turkey with mashed potatoes and stuffing. We eat dinner and enjoy eachother's company then it is time for presents. Lots of presents. Music and laughter abounded through out the house. This tradition hasn't changed, much I guess. However, I feel a major part of it is missing. Poppy. We lost Poppy 2 years ago at THanksgiving to cancer. When we did, we lost a huge part of our family. We lost our Santa Clause.

Poppy IS Christmas. He IS Santa Clause. Poppy is the most caring, giving person I have ever met, or ever will meet. For many years, Poppy organized a Christmas party for underpriviledged children and their families. He oped up his home to these families, gave them a Christmas dinner and presents. He would hitch up his horses and give sleigh rides. One year we even had reindeer. And of course, Santa Clause always came to hand out the presents. What more could there be to the true meaning of Christmas?

We no longer have those parties, but luckily our big family is still together. Of course there have been difficult times and we might not always get along but we are family. We belong together. And what better way to celebrate Christmas and the memory of Poppy than to celebrate our holidays together, as family?