Great-Grandma and Grandpa Peterson; A Love Like No Other

At 6:00 on a Wednesday evening, my great-grandpa Dale was able to return to his wife in Heaven. Something he had been longing to do since the moment she passed. Grandpa lived just shy of 90 wonderful years on Earth. He shared 74 of those years with the love of his life, {Grandma} Madge. There are many things I will always remember about Grandpa Dale, such as the colorful bird houses he hand crafted, the fact he had more cut off fingers than he did whole, his delicious jerky only a select few found delicious, and how he could smoke a Carp and make it taste like Alaska Salmon. Of the many admirable traits of my Grandpa and all his heart warming stories I hope to always remember, I know I will continue to be inspired by the love he had for his wife. Their love is unlike any other love, something you only find in excellent books and the best romance movies. Grandpa always, always talked kind of Grandma and had always said, "She is the most beautiful thing he had ever laid eyes on."
They fell in love in high school and were voted "beautiful couple." And that they were. Grandpa would walk ten miles {if I remember right} to Holden to spend the day with Grandma. He always told us the story of their wedding night, and it never once got old. Grandma and Grandpa were only 16 at the time. They were friends with another young couple who were just as in love as them. One day, Grandpa and his buddy decided it was time to settle down and get married. He had $20 dollars in his pocket at the time, plenty of money for a wedding. Their brides had not done any of the planning. In fact, they had no idea of the wedding until they were picked up and carried away to Salt Lake City. There they stayed in a hotel room for $2 a night. Grandpa said, "Money was so tight then, I saw a mouse pull a switch blade on a rodent over a piece of cheese." They married in the presence of just the two of them and the pastor. Every time I would hear this story I couldn't help but melt. What any girl would give for a wedding story like that! I only wish I could remember all of the romantic details.
Another one of my favorite stories of Grandpa's takes place when he was in another country {can't recall where} fighting for America. He was eating at a restaurant, making small talk with a gentleman there. They found they were from the same area. The gentleman began talking about "the cutest little waitress" he had met there. Grandpa reached in to his wallet, pulled out a picture of Grandma Madge and said, "I'll bet this is her?" Sure enough, it was. He was always so proud to call her his.
When Grandma Madge's health started declining, they decided to sale their little white house in Fillmore. It was such a bittersweet thing. I hated the idea of someone else living in their home. I had always known their house to be a happy place where family would gather and many memories were made. We were always welcome no matter the time of day. I was, however, happy to have them closer and be able to visit as often as I would like. After Grandma passed, Grandpa moved out to the Victorian House in Levan. I vividly remember the last time we visited, Grandpa was still {fairly} well. I am forever grateful we made the spur of the moment trip. He was so happy to see us and had a buffet of stories to tell. During the visit, to no surprise, he spoke so beautifully of Grandma and constantly said how much he missed her. His walls were covered with her pictures. My heart ached for him as I could feel a special piece of him was missing. He did the most beautiful thing which I will always remember. He read to us what Grandma Madge had wrote in his yearbook. The way he read it was exactly the way I would have imagined grandma to say it. I could all but hear grandma's voice. His heart was so full of love. I am grateful I have a copy of her writing, and I am able to share it:

"Being that you're not satisfied with what I have written you old ticky cuss, I will try again. Dale you know I think more of you than any other boy, and I have certainly had a fun while with you and have enjoyed it an awfully lot. I can never thank you for the grand times you have showed me. You're everything wonderful "considering." If and when anything ever happens that you and I don't agree always look on the reserved page in your yearbook and find that bunch of scribbling, it tells the truth.
I only hope that our true friendship will continue forever. Next year is going to bring some tiresome old days without you Seniors, especially you. Though you are graduating from Millard High don't consider yourself too high and mighty to look back to one Sophomore of this year. I know you're smart "Brutus" but not too smart. Always remember me forever and ever, because you will always live in my memory. I'll be in Holden most always so come see me. Car loads of love, Madge."

What a love. Their love inspires me to love my husband as much as they loved each other. I am forever grateful we were granted the amount of time with Grandma and Grandpa as we were. I can only imagine the happy reunion they are having in Heaven. I look forward to the day we meet again.

If I were to guess, this was probably taken around when they bought their home in Fillmore.

High School Sweethearts

 

The birdhouse I picked out before their house was sold. I have plans to refinish it.

Our last visit when Grandpa was healthy.

"All because two people fell in love"
Grandpa always said that in amaze at family gatherings.

 

 



          

ONE Boy, ONE Year, TWO Days of Celebration

Drayze's birthday came and went, making him officially ONE! It was a big hit to say the least. June 5th landed on a Thursday this year. Therefor we had two wonderful days of celebration ahead; one on his actual birthday, and his birthday party the following day. Spending {way too much} extra time on Pinterst, I had put a lot of thought in to how I was going to make him feel extra special on his big day. He is only one so he doesn't yet understand it is HIS day. I didn't want the two days to feel like our ordinary day of going through the motions of our daily routines. I wanted his birthday to be one for the books as he only gets one first birthday! All of the hard work and planning paid off. Here is a recap.

We woke up bright and early June 5th so daddy could see his little boy on his birthday before heading to work. Zac's work schedule has really REALLY sucked lately. He heads to work about 6 A.M. and arrives home around 9:30 P.M. We knew {sadly} the only time he was going to see Drayze was in the morning before work and right before bed. This being known, we decided to wake Drayze up extra early to give him his birthday present and drive Zac to work so we could spend {very} little time together that day. When Drayze and I were back home, he was one tired little dude so he went back to sleep. I brewed one large pot of coffee and began preparing for the day I had planned. I blew up 20 colorful balloons, hung a banner on his crib {because he can read and all} made him breakfast and patiently waited for him to wake up. When he finally woke I filled his crib with the balloons and watched his face light up with excitement!

cutest birthday tank from Ashlee

Drayze had a bath {with extra bubbles} then watched a birthday edition of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while I packed a bag for the POOL! Grandma Michelle gifted Drayze the cutest swimsuit so we decided what better way to spend a summer birthday than at the splash pad. We invited aunt Deveny to come along too. Drayze wasn't a big fan of the water at first, but once we showed him how fun it really is he had a good time. He mostly enjoyed being able to crawl where ever he wanted and watching all of the kids. The boy absolutely loves being outside!

I even wore a swim suit, something I said I'd NEVER do again.

I love this even though his eyes are closed

I put him on the floor in my mom's room to nap...

then found him in the hallway when I went to check on him.

 After a good birthday power nap, baby boy was ready to go again. Grandma picked us up to go for an ice cream with a couple of cousins and visit great grandma and grandpa Warner. When we were finished there, the night day was coming to an end. We headed back home to wait for daddy to {finally} get home! Both Zac and Drayze were exhausted at this point, but that didn't stop them from playing and getting a few good laughs in together. We ate a light birthday dinner together, then called it a day.

Nice photo bomb grandpa!

The next day, the day of his party, was quite a bit more hectic. My mom and I had been working so hard for a couple months or so planning for his party to be absolutely perfect. That day trying to get every little detail prepared and together we realized we may have went a little bit overboard.{Damn Pinterest} We were running from town to town, from store to store, picking up the odds and ends we still needed. We may have procrastinated a bit. We baked, frosted, and detailed 48 cupcakes and one small smash cake. We put together several decorations adding small details to each. Zac grilled 50 hot dogs in 99 degree weather, and we all helped transport everything to the park and set it all up just in the nick-of-time. It turned out absolutely DARLING, and I couldn't have done it without the help from my mom.

The best picture we have of the set-up

 

great turnout!

 

Zac and Atlee

 

Grandma Karen

 

LOVES his 4-wheeler from Mom and Dad

 

Grandma Karen and Cousin Kallen

 

Drayze and Cousin Myles

 

Kallen loved the 4-wheeler too!

 

Cousin Kyran

Cousin Emma AKA Bucky





I literally had to hose him down after the cake!





[SOOO tired by the end of his party! Thank god for Aunt Jenilee. She took care of him for us while we cleaned the party up. He was getting so cranky and she was so patient with him!]

We had such a good turn out. Drayze had so much fun and received so many fun presents. I wish I could have gotten a picture with everyone there, and I wish I would have had the time to take a picture of all the details we put in to his party. If only there was enough time in the day. 

His birthday was absolutely perfect. It was better than I ever thought it could be. It is a day we will remember and cherish forever. However, I do think next year {and years to come} we will stick to simple cake and ice cream in the back yard. ;)