My grandparents

When I was a child we lived by my grandparents for my first four or five years. My grandma Martin lived down the street. I remember snapping beans with her on her front porch. We also had round the block parades in primary and we passed her house as she waved from us from that same porch. I helped her by swatting flies and collecting eggs. Mostly I remember walking down to see her dressed as a princess. When I got there she had company and when I looked down at my princess dress it was a towel. Grandma thought I looked beautiful.

After we moved to Utah we traveled back every year to visit my grandparents. It was a two day trip that my parents usually made in one so that we didn't have to get a hotel. It was hard traveling in the hot car to Arizona but my parents were very committed to us knowing our Arizona relatives. On one trip I didn't get my ride on grandpa's tractor and I pulled a big fit until I got my way before we started our trip home.

When my grandma and grandpa Carpenter retired they visited us for an extended visit in the summer to get out of the Arizona sun. Those are special memories. I trusted my grandma's judgement and I didn't want to get engaged until she met Mike and said that she approved.

When Mike and I were going to get married He wanted to get married in the same temple as his parents. We planned a trip to Logan and took pictures of us at the temple. Then, my grandma Carpenter called and said that she would come if we met her half way and got married in Provo. I was so excited and didn't even think about it. It was wonderful to have them there. Because we were always the family that lived away it was special to me when my grandparents visited or we visited them.

When Mike and I got married, we were both from the same town, just like my parents. However, we stayed and my children knew both sets of their grandparents. Like my parents before me it was a priority. We sacrificed to go to as many reunions as we could.

Now I am a grandparent and I have 17 grandchildren. I only have four of them in town and I love being apart of their lives. It is painful not to be close and miss out on so many special times.