Still Kickin' & Strong @ 70!

On account of my Grandma turning 70, my Grandpa threw her the biggest surprise party imaginable, all without her knowing.  Hundreds of people gathered to celebrate her and her influential and eventful life.  My Grandma is not the typical Grandma…after receiving her PhD, she wanted to make a difference in the world…and started her own company.  She is still the CEO of Beneficial International and travels all over the world for business and pleasure. (She can name the few countries she has not traveled to on one or two hands…on Tuesday she is headed for Panama.)  She will wake up at 6:00am to go to “Boot Camp” to work out before work.  Although her age defines her as the oldest member of the club, she is far from it physically.  She loves her family: we often go, as an extended family, to various exotic places for family trips, each grand kid joins her on an exciting adventure when they turn 12, annual birthday dinner & shopping with the Grandparents, front-row support for every extra-curricular activity any of their grand kids participate in, late night talks, eye brow waxes to take care of our equally dark and uncontrollable eyebrows, etc.  She shows me how to selflessly serve and love others, expecting nothing in return.  I would not be the person I am today without her.  She is an example to me of living life to the fullest, following my dreams, staying healthy and strong, and waking up each day with passion and excitement for another opportunity to change the world. 

 

 My Grandma has an obsession with  Elvis….   

We had a photo booth...with costumes…

 

My Grandpa told her they need to help their best friends look at the Eaglewood Golf Course as a venue for their daughter’s wedding reception before dinner...lights down...constant shushing... *SURPRISE*

My sweet Grandpa just cried and cried

 

We had dinner and a program involving various groups of people expressing their love and appreciation for her through stories, song, or slideshows.  

Some were hilarious.... my mom talking about the 80's and my Grandmother's attempts to perm her hair at home.

 

  

I love my Grandma. She is, by far, one of the classiest, most charitable, and ambitious individuals I have ever known.

All-Stars On and Off the Court!

Walk Down Memory Lane.

Volleyball Tournaments are insanely fun, l-o-n-g, exhausting, exhilarating, sweaty, and quite the weekend for the parental/cheer section.

My mom needed a cheer buddy this weekend for a few hours… so she came and randomly picked me up from Provo to watch my sister, Eliza, play club volleyball at Open Court. We cheered, laughed, talked about anything and everything, jammed to music; we did it all.

Eliza is a volleyball beast.

It felt like yesterday that I was the little ninth grader playing volleyball and laying on my mom’s lap during the breaks as she played with my hair while we waited for the next game.  I am now almost 21 and in my third year of college…where does the time go?

 Cheerleaders. My mom is the epitome of THE GREATEST mother in the world. She spends thousands and thousands of hours supporting my sisters and I in every extra-curricular activity imaginable…believe me, we did EVERYTHING growing up.

  My mom is my rock and my best friend.  I could not be happier than when I am with my family. 

Not to mention…Eliza dominated.

My Life is...

MY FAMILY

 

WE cannot forget the other male in our home...Koda:

 Turned From A new, Cute, shy puppy-->To a Jumping, Spastic, Separation-anxiety prone “Horse" this year. 

Merlin Lemon

Meet…MERLIN LEMON

Brother Lemon lives up the street. 

He is an 80 year-old, Cadillac-driving, McDonald's-loving, Gentle and Sweet Man whom my sisters and I have come to L-O-V-E & ADORE.  His wife died a few years ago, which left him extremely lonely and in need of some good company. 

      [cute story: before his wife died, she had a large printed Book of Mormon.  She reached a point where she could not lift it up anymore to read it.  Brother Lemon divided the book into two section and bound each section of the book.  This enabled her to continue to read the Book of Mormon, one section at a time…how sweet is that? He loves and misses her dearly.]

We often go visit him at his home and once in the rehabilitation center, where he tells us stories upon stories about his life.  He frames our notes above his fireplace and lovingly takes us in when we stop by.

One time, he even took us on a joy ride in his Cadillac to his favorite restaurant that offers “anything and everything”…McDonald's, where we enjoyed cheeseburgers in a red-greasy booth. 

      We love him.

And Guess What? HE CAME TO VISIT US TODAY.  Brother Lemon, WHO RARELY GETS OUT, pulled up in our drive-way, in his Cadillac, this afternoon to visit. I didn’t even think he knew where we lived.  My parents, Chels, and I spoke in sacrament meeting this morning and he drove over to tell us how much he loved it.  He is such a sweetheart.   

We all officially have another “McDonald's date” planned tomorrow…excitement.