Indiana trip - celebrating Grandma.

Our trip was actually scheduled around Grandma.  She turned 80 and we thought that was reason to celebrate!  Mom and her siblings planned a small open house in her backyard and Grandma was the guest of honor!  She had family and friends come from five states just to wish her a happy birthday!  She is a very special lady though, so she deserved it all very much! 

I have lots of memories of Grandma T (that's what we called her...Templeton was much too long to waste time saying;)  through my life.  She always had us over to spend the night and we would laugh as she wrapped her hair in toilet paper to keep it nice while she slept!  (she still goes to the salon once a week to get it washed, curled, and set).  She always let me help her water her flowers and she always always always bought us the yummy thick chocolate milk (y'all know what I'm talking about, right?!) that my mom would never buy. 

Grandma would get up every Christmas morning and come to our house to see us open our Santa gifts.  Sometimes she would even spend the night there, and that was extra special!  She was at all of my major school events and a large number of my sporting events over the years.  She liked to call me "Step-and-a-half".  Not sure where it came from, but it became a term of endearment. 

The immediate family that was able to make it

The Jordan family plus Grandma

Grandma has spent a lot of her adult life without Grandpa and that makes me sad when I think about it.  I can't remember for sure, but I think Grandpa has been gone for 23 years.  When you get married, you are supposed to "grow old" with your spouse. It just isn't fair. 

Grandma and three of her four children.

She is very special to me and to our entire family and I am so happy that we could be there to celebrate with her.  It is also very neat for me to be able to share Olivia with her.  Talk about coming full circle!  Grandma had her own daughter, who had a daughter, who then had a daughter.....wow!  I can only imagine what it is like for Grandma to see her grandchildren become parents.  I hope I am around long enough to see Olivia's kids have kids.....and that they come from five states to celebrate my 80th birthday, too!

Our sweet sweet baby girl...

Olivia and cousin Trisha

Olivia and Jordan looking awfully serious

Sitting with mommy and getting some fresh fruit from Papa!

Olivia made it a little more difficult to play corn hole!

Nana & Papa's grandkids!

Garrett, Olivia, Kaylynn, Jordan, Drew, & Eli

We also celebrated Garrett's ninth birthday!  At that age, the bigger the flames on the candle the better! ha.

And just because I like this picture of my husband and my mother ;)

To be continued.....(I think I have one or two more Indiana posts!)