Sunday, August 11, 2013

All I Can See Are Files, and Files, and Files

One thing about having to move a parent of of their house into a little apartment is that you get to determine what is a keeper and what is needed to dispose of. (I couldn't have done this without my sister's help!) 
 My parents kept AMAZING records.  I even found their books from the laundromat that they owned back in 1977.  Crazy!!  But some things are necessary to keep, and so I have boxes and boxes of files to go through to determine what needs to be saved.  I know my mom would love me to keep everything just as is, but my house can't hold all her belongings either.
Then there's the sentimental things, and a few Christmas decorations that we want to save to have her apartment feel the holiday spirit.

There are also all of her computer disks she saved, and floppies that I need to go through.

 Besides keeping great books, my parents loved to take pictures and videos. (Long story, even LONGER videos...family joke.)
 
This doesn't even begin to show all the floppies, CDS, VHS and HI8's to go through.  There are boxes and boxes and boxes of videos I still need to pick up...and put somewhere.  It's so fun to go through. The memories, hearing my dad's voice, and seeing him play with the boys when they were little.  Gosh, they were fun grandparents.  I had fun grandparents too, and I hope to be a super fun, spoil your grandkids rotten kind of grandma...in a few years :) 
 
When my dad knew his time was short, he made recordings for my brother Danny who was in a coma, to try to help him through his struggles to come back to us.  He sang Danny Boy and other songs, played his harmonica, and told him how much he loved him and to come back.
  And he did. 
And I know it worked.
We are all so blessed to have had him in our lives.  And I'm thankful for not just memories but of these keepsakes he made for us.  Thanks, Dad!

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Beach Camping

One our our funnest things to do is to go beach camping.  We haven't been in a few years, and wanted to go this year when we knew the boys would be home from college.  We weren't able to get a campsite, but our friends were, so they were kind enough to share with our loud, crazy family.  As luck would have it, we had other friends camping there too.  It made it a lot of fun. 
 
There was a beach football game, surfing, boogie boarding, sand castle making, tunnel digging and getting stuck in, bonfires, bbq'ing, s'mores, woof'ems, puking, bike riding, walks, stair climbing, 3 bee stings, road rash, grumpiness, laughter, air soft shooting, napping, reading, resting and a great time!  Already looking forward to next time.