If it's the first Sunday in June, we will be at the Garrett Family Reunion. It was at Roman Nose again this year. Poppa was very happy to have all 8 of his Great-Grands there! I'm trying to remember why he was wearing a referee shirt, but I'm not sure. I think it had something to do with referee'ing the silent auction? =0) Jack had the best time running around with his cousins Lincoln and Jameson...blowing bubbles and having water balloon fights for the win! By the time it was all said and done, Jack was completely soaked. If I've learned anything over the years, it's that we never know how much time we have left with the people we love. And, nothing stays the same forever...things are always changing. That's why it is so important to make the most of each day, and seize every opportunity we have to be together.
Oh, how I love this!
Brian Morehead had a friend who came to record a video of the family reunion. Anyone who wanted to could share favorite Garrett memories over the years. I can't wait to see what they said.
This was toward the beginning of Uncle John's health struggle. I still can't believe how fast he went downhill. How we will miss him!
The girls had their Cheer cookout/showing before going to cheer camp, at the Baird's house. There's always a lot of excitement and anxiety surrounding cheer camp, especially from Madi. This kind of felt like the first "last" thing for Mackenzie. I'm so glad the girls have one more year to cheer and be on this team together! Gonna try to enjoy every minute!
We had a graveside service for my Grandma Shaw at the Alfalfa cemetery on Saturday, June 1st. I couldn't help but think how very different (and better) things would be if my Dad were still here. GMa made the most beautiful & personal floral wreath for Grandma...it had a hummingbird, playing cards, music notes, jars of jam, strawberries, baking supplies...just all sorts of things Grandma Shaw loved. It was the sweetest and most thoughtful thing ever, and I know Grandma would have been so proud of it!
Javan shared a few things and then asked if anyone else would like to say something. Clint stepped up big time and shared so many memories of Grandma Shaw. He did an amazing job and once again, my Grandma (and my Dad) would have been so proud of him. Things haven't been the same with my Dad's side of the family since he has been gone, and it makes my heart so sad. After the short service, we went to the community center and had a light lunch and spent time visiting with family that we don't see often. Mackenzie played some hymns on the piano and I know that would have made Grandma happy!
I wrote this several years ago, but it sums up my favorite memories with Grandma Shaw so well, that I'm just going to write it here again...
I have so many sweet memories at Grandma & Pop's house growing up...
Going to the Carnegie fair--some of my all-time favorite childhood memories happened there (playing Bingo, riding the Ferris wheel and carousel, playing games, the til-a-whirl, turtle and frog races, the tractor pull, my dad singing in a quartet), Easter weekends, playing basketball in the driveway and darts in the garage, doing puzzles with Grandma, playing endless card games, going to the skating rink with the wooden floor and listening to country music, watching movies at the Liberty Theater in Carnegie (my Dad took me to see The Blair Witch Project there!), picking strawberries and carrots with Grandma, playing and. having fun with my cousins, learning to walk on the stilts Pop made all of us kids for Christmas one year, listening to Grandma play the piano and sing so beautifully, getting to choose between 10 kinds of cereal (but you better eat it ALL or Grandma would get you for wasting it!), eating quail, pheasant, deer, fish...anything that had been hunted or caught, reading the Christmas story before opening presents every year, going to Fort Cobb and PSO lakes, learning to cross-stitch and watching Grandma crochet, and probably my favorite and most vivid memories with Grandma Shaw...going to her little Methodist church on Sunday mornings. A lot of the time I was the only one who went with her, so it was a special time that I got to spend with her and I knew it made her happy.
It's a sad thought to me that she hasn't been able to remember all of these things for many years now...but I LOVE thinking about how she is now in heaven, perfect and whole!
I will always remember these things and smile when I think of my Grandma Shaw.
Grandma & Pop's house...where so many of those wonderful memories were made!
