Grandmother's 80 Birthday

Daniel's family threw a last minute birthday party for his Grandmother at Cracker Barrel to celebrate her 80th birthday!

What a monumental day! We are glad we were able to be a part. It's a little sobering to think that my mom is now close to the age that Grandmother was when I first met her! Time is hurrying by.

It was nice to reminisce about this lovely lady. Did you know that I lived with her for the summer before we got married? I had an internship in downtown Nashville with the Nashville Predators. She would make me breakfast every morning and we would have really long talks around her dining table.

For part of the summer her mom, Daniel's Nana, lived their too. She was diabetic and would hide things like Blizzards from Dairy Queen in the fridge and make Grandmother so mad. It was pretty funny living with those two ladies.

Sadly Nana passed away before we got married in December of 2002. I am so grateful for that time with them and to have those special memories with Daniel's extended family.

Grandma's Peanut Butter Cookies

A lot of the memories that we collectively shared at my Grandma's funeral revolved around food. Delicious, southern, comfort food to be exact. One of my dad's cousins who attended the funeral was sweet enough to make peanut butter cookies from a recipe my Grandma gave her in 1968. She sent each of us home with a bag of these cookies and then emailed the recipe to my mom to share.

This week I had a chance to whip up a batch, and no lie, these really are the best peanut butter cookies. The recipe calls for 1 cup of fat. I used butter. REAL butter, no fake stuff here. If memory serves me, I'm pretty sure Grandma always used butter when I was a kid.

When I was making my batch, Jack wandered into the kitchen, looked in the mixing bowl and told me that my cookie batter was dirty. I guess the peanut butter made it look too dark for his liking.

I used my hands to roll the batter into balls and then Jack helped me press the fork into the balls to flatten them. He quickly got over his dislike of the "dirty" batter, first licking the beater clean and then devouring every cookie he could get his hands on. He told me they turned out better than he expected.

The funeral was just over two weeks ago, but through food, I am still remembering Grandma.

Grandma's Peanut Butter Cookies, circa 1968
Ingredients

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup fat (I used real, unsalted butter)                                            

1 cup peanut butter (I used natural, but any brand, chunky or smooth works)

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

 

Directions

Mix butter, peanut butter and sugars.

Add eggs and beat well.

Stir in dry ingredients

Roll into 1-inch balls (or drop by tsp).

Flatten with fork (you can dip the fork in cold water or sugar)

Bake at 375 for 10 minutes until light brown.

Enjoy! 

Feeding Ducks with Grandpa

See Jack feed ducks with his Grandpa Moore

Yesterday afternoon Jack and I spent some time with Jack's Grandpa Moore. Grandpa M. is getting ready to buy a new house in Chattanooga, so we tagged along for moral support.

We were in town a little early for a house viewing, so we made a pit stop at a park in College Dale to feed ducks.

This was a big hit with Jack. His Grandpa did the feeding and Jack got a big kick out of the experience. I'm pretty sure that Jack just wanted to touch the ducks.

We saw quite the variety of ducks... Young ones and old ones. White ones and brown ones. Some had green heads and some had red heads.

The red headed ducks looked like a cross between a duck and a turkey – I have never seen a duck like this before. There were even a few Canadian Geese in the mix.

The sun was shining and it wasn't too cold. Really a perfect afternoon to feed ducks.

I am sure that we will be feeding more ducks in the near future!

See Jack {late July 2012}

This is an ongoing series of videos that I am sharing so that our extended family can keep up with how Jack is growing and changing in these early years.

See Jack try to help his Grandpa Moore sign the check when we were out to dinner.
{late July}


See Jack laugh at his Grandpa Voyles – who makes lots of fun noises.
{late July}


See Jack play on his new play mat. He explores the texture of the mat, 
attempts to touch a light socket and works on his crawling.
{late July}


See Jack Bounce. He loves his little jumparoo – anything that he can stand in, really.
{late July}

This year Daniel and I decided to make photobooks {using Shutterfly}
for our parents {the grandparents} of Jack. 

It included some of our favorite pictures of our little guy starting at his birth. 

These books were a huge hit {and a big surprise}. 

I love all of their faces as they opened our gifts. 

We love you all!

Grandparents

The day after Thanksgiving I found myself in Daniel's Grandmother's bathroom and it dawned on me that there are so many things that make me think of each of the different grandparents in my life. I think this thought process started while I was in the bathroom and noticing (for the millionth time) all of the little bottles that Grandmother had daintily set out (just so) on her counter.

This got me to thinking about all of the things that remind me of my grandparents and of all the good memories that I will forever associate with grandparents. This thought process on a Friday morning feels somewhat of a foreshadowing as Saturday afternoon we learned that Daniel's Grandma was in the hospital and things were not looking so good. Thankfully we will were able to visit her twice in the hospital. Lord willing we will visit her again, but if not, I am thankful that we were able to see her.

I hope that in the future I will remember Daniel's Grandma for her spiritedness and not for the frail woman in the hospital bed with an oxygen mask covering her face. I hope that I will instead always think of her when I go to the ocean and remember the time we took her to The Outer Banks and saw her experience putting her feet in the ocean for the first time (at 80+ years of age). I will forever remember her delight at the waves and magnitude of the water.

As for my other grandparents... I have had 2 of my great grandparents, 2 grandpa's and Daniel's Nana die in my lifetime.

I think that even though I met them, the things I will remember about Great Grandma and Grandpa Hotchkiss will be the stories that were passed down to me from my mother.

I will remember my Grandpa Moore working in his garden and shucking corn with him on the back patio.

I will remember Joe Davis for the way he had so many life stories to share and for how wonderfully happy he made my Grandma.

I will remember Daniel's Nana from the summer that we both lived at Grandmother's house and our time spent around the kitchen table sharing breakfast together.

For those still living, I hold precious memories and I hope that there will be more to come.

I will forever be grateful for my Grandma and that she shared with me how to sew. I will always enjoy hearing her stories from the Great Depression and the lessons those stories have taught me. I will always hold dear the memories of making ice cream on her back patio (with the ice cream maker that you had to physically crank for 2 hours).

I will always be thankful for my Nana and all of the special time that we have shared over the years - over hot chocolate when I was young and over coffee now that I am grown.

I love my Grandpa's wit and his jokes. I love when he gets out his guitar and plays songs for us. I am thankful that he is such a strong leader in our family.

I never had the opportunity to meet any of Daniel's grandfathers, but I have been told many stories about them and wish I had had the opportunity to meet them.

I am thankful for Daniel's Grandmother and the opportunity that I had to live with her the summer before we were married. I am thankful for our many talks that happen whenever Daniel and I stay at her house.

I am so thankful to have so many grandparents that are still alive and a part of my life. I am thankful that I am able to see all of them at least once a year (when I am lucky, more than that). For this Thanksgiving, my special prayer of thanks is for these wonderful people who are in my life and who have shaped and continue to shape who I am.