Grandma Geddes' Blog

Carlsbad, California

2010-06-29T19:50:00.117-06:00

Twenty-five members of the family spent a week in Carlsbad. It was perfect weather and the company was great! Avery and Brookie built a great sand castle.

We had a wonderful week in Southern California. Nothing is better than spending time with famiy! Here are some of the cute cousins - Rebecca, Rach, and Megan.
Knott's Berry Farm was tons of fun. We enjoyed a chicken dinner at the main restruant. Check out the kids table. What after-math!!!
!!!

The beach was lots of fun. Here is Gordon with his oldest daughter, Jennifer.
Careful not to get too much sun.
Some went to the zoo, Legoland, and SeaWorld. Floyd and grandpa playing a little touch football.

Nicholas and Alex did some BMX racing. Alex won a first place trophie. They were both amazing

Kevin built a bonfire on the beach. We cooked our meal and smores. The fire truck showed up. Lucky for us, Kevin wasn't taken away. They were great to give us instructions on how to put out the fire when we were done. It was a beautiful evening for our last night in CA.

(Thanks to Preston. He is a great photographer. I made this blog entry and realized that I didn't have any photos of me. I downloaded some of his photos from Facebook. I decided that I couldn't have a Grandma Geddes Blog with a few photos of Grandma Geddes. Thanks again!)

Grandma's Party in 3-D

2010-01-01T13:45:00.012-07:00

If you have 3-D glasses, you might like to view Grandma's Christmas Party in 3-D. Ryan is the photographer. Here are the grandkids dancing around the tree.
The tree was decorated in stockins with toys and candy canes for the great-grandkids. They also got a reindeer stuffed animal hanging on the tree.
The cousins had a fun time.Daniel found a nut in two tarts, winning two prizes from grandma.
We sang "Hang Up the Babies Stocking" for Holland and Bailey.We enjoyed a great dinner and visited with family.cousins joined in.

Alaskan Cruise

2009-07-18T20:07:00.027-06:00

We just returned from a 7-day Royal Caribbean Cruise to Alaska. Everything about it was first class. We really didn't want to see it end. I am posting some highlights. Our ship was the Rhapsody of the Sea. It had 2100 passengers and 1000 crew members.

We took photos of our ship on the other side of the bay on an excursion on the Juneau Trolley.

Our stateroom was very lovely.

Notice Grandpa clowning around like Samuel.
Each day our stateroom attendant folded towels into amazing sculptures.

Check these out starting with the elephant.TurtleMonkey
Turkey

We really got a kick out of what he did with my shoes that I left out of the closet. He really entertained us and worked for a tip at the end of the cruise!
We took 245 pictures. I'll post another installment later. That's 11 down and 234 to post.

From Colorado to California

2009-07-05T17:05:00.030-06:00

We have had a fun couple of week. We started the first week of our vacation in Vail, Colorado. We caught a Rockies game on a day trip to Denver. They have a beautiful ballpark. This is an annual trip we make. We attended the Temple in Denver. On our way to California we stopped over in Las Vegas. Gordon,Mother and I got to see Donny and Marie's high energy show. They were wonderful. Mom made the trip with us. She was pretty uncomfortable becuase she fell and broke her left wrist just days before the trip. It was a blast spending a week with kids and grandkids. Here we are purchasing tickets to Legoland. It is right across the street from our condos.

Check out how soaked everyone was from the boat ride.

Daniel's Baseball

2009-05-25T17:40:00.006-06:00

Gordon and I drove down to see Daniel play baseball. He is on the Detroit Tigers team. He played left field and third base and did a great job. He had a couple of great hits and one RBI. We took our little red convertible down. The evening was warm and the sunset was gorgeous.

Cambridge Chapel Fire

2009-05-17T18:32:00.018-06:00

(Click on the above title to view a Boston Globe video.) Help Christina, I have got to learn how to link to video and websites. I am still learning how to blog.

My sister called Sunday afternoon with sad news. Her son, Michael heard that the Cambridge, Massachusetts Ward Chapel had been destroyed by fire. I attended church in that building from 1969 to 1973. My two oldest children were blessed in that ward. I have many memories of Boston and ward activities in Cambridge. It was a lovely building just off Harvard Square and across the street from Longfellow's home. This has been upsetting news. I hope it will be rebuilt to resemble the old building. Burns and Brenda attended the same building while he was in law school. An article said that 22 fire engines and 80 fire fighters responded to the fire. It is in close proximity to many homes. The Institute of Religion had a library in the building. The video shows how they saved the library.

Ryan's Ph.D Graduation

2009-05-08T19:30:00.044-06:00

Congratulations, Ryan! You did it! It was exciting for the entire family. It was a long day for the kids! Abbi's parents have been a great support to all of them. Gordon, my mother and I got to fly back to Ann Arbor, Michigan for the weekend. Karl, Christina, and their kids got to spend a week in Michigan. The cousins had a blast. We had a breakfast brunch at a beautiful park. It is found on Geddes Road and this is a photo of Geddes Pond. It made us feel right at home! The kids buried their feet. Even Grandpa had fun swinging.

Riding Tennessee Walkers in Tennessee!

2009-04-18T00:09:00.039-06:00

We visited Kevin and Sunee in Nashville. What a beautiful state. Even though the trees hadn't leafed out, it was still a lovely ride. I'll bet you didn't know I could ride a horse. I rode a little when I was young. I had a friend who loved horses. Gordon had a couple of horses when we were first married. We rode a little before he sold them.
My horse was named Prissy.

Gordon is riding on a Tennessee Walker named Honey.

Kevin and Sunee know how to entertain!

Kevin rode on Dillion ahead of me as we rode down a river and along mountain trails. It was lots of fun.

Kevin took a great photo of us actually riding through the river. I will add it when he emails it to me. Check back later to see it.

These next photos were taken with Kevin's phone. Can you tell we had fun?

Here is Sunee riding Misty.

"Fiddler"

2009-03-29T12:53:00.032-06:00

Last Saturday we got to see Rachel and Sarah perform in "Fiddler on the Roof. Their elementary school put on the wonderful production. Rachel had one of the lead parts performing as Hodel. Sarah was a dancer. We loved the show. Here are few photos and videos of the musical. I don't have a video camera, but I can take videos on my digital camera. The quality isn't the best, but it is the best that I have. Rachel started to sing the song Matchmaker before I could get the camera in the video mode. Sorry my hand was shaky. I missed the first part of her solo. She has a lovely voice. It was impressive that an elementary school has so much talent.

(Rachel is in the green blouse.)

Sarah is the dancer with the brown blouse.

Distinguished Artist, Abbi Knowlton Israelsen

2009-03-29T12:06:00.026-06:00

Abbi has some drawings in a Distinguished Alumni Exhibition at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at USU. The exhibit is open from March 23 to April 23. Abbi, Ryan and their daughter were in town for the opening of the exhibit.

The drawings are part of her collection for the ARDS Foundation. She was in the hospital a year ago this month. We are grateful she is a survivor and is a recovery success story. Check out her "Drawing for ARDS" (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) Blog at

http://drawingforards.blogspot.com/

Abbi and Kitty

Abbi really appreciate the great family support!

Kitty took a break!

Kitty walking in the rain!

We went to Firehouse Pizza to celebrate Abbi's achievements!

A grandma's blog is a brag book! This is an adorable grandchild! Don't you agree?

Abbi comes from a wonderful family. They are always there for their children. Thanks to the Knowltons!

Three Adorable Grandchildren

2009-03-26T18:01:00.017-06:00

I had fun tending Ryan and Abbi's daughter while they were house hunting in Indiana. Karl and Christina left their kids just for the evening. We had a great time. The cousins plays well together.
Kitty looks pretty tired. We played hard.

Kitty loves animals. She brought a backpack full and we pulled out lots of my Beanie Babies and Webkinz!

I wish they lived closer!

Floyd's Birthday Party

2009-03-05T17:47:00.013-07:00

Here is Floyd with his Grandpa Geddes.

Have you ever seen a pizza shaped like a number?
We had pizza and arcade games at "Fat Cats" to celebrate Floyd's 5th birthday. His favorite present was a Snuggie he had asked for. Here he is showing off his treasure!

There is definitely a competetive side to Gordon and AnnMarie.

Great Grandma Verna Geddes is 90!

2009-02-14T12:19:00.036-07:00

We had a wonderful time visiting with friends and family at an open house last Saturday to celebrate Gordon's Mother's 90th Birthday! Here are a few photos.

Grandma looks amazing at age 90. Check out her lovely cake!

Her children are Reid, Ethel Ann, Renae, Gordon, Jenell, and Kae.

Guests were able to view a display of photos, and Reid put together a slide presentation set to music.

Happy Birthday Verna!

Bringing Back Glory (AGGIE FOOTBALL)

2009-02-10T16:56:00.022-07:00

Check out this cool image of my Dad, Grandpa Gutke, or as Aggie fans knew him, Butch Gutke. He played Aggie Football in the early 40's. He was even drafted to play football for the New York Giants. We have his letter of invitation. Unfortunately, he was also drafted by Uncle Sam to serve in the Navy during WWII. Military service came first. When the war was over, he became a football coach. I grew up attending football games and loving sports.

It looks like Kessee has designed a shirt featuring Grandpa Gutke. It sounds like we can order them. I will try to find out ordering details. You can check out the original post at lundbergs.blogspot.com/

Eva's Birthday

2009-01-31T21:37:00.013-07:00

Yummy food, cake and ice cream, family, fun, and presents . . . What a fun birthday party for EVA! The dolphin and beach cake was a hit!
Two future Rachel Rays. Here are two adorable cake decorators. Their bundt cakes were beautiful!
The cousins had fun!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Geddes!

2009-01-21T16:40:00.014-07:00

My sweet husband is celebrating a birthday today. We are celebrating by going out to dinner tonight. Burns and Brenda gave us their JAZZ tickets to the JAZZ game against Minn. last night. The JAZZ won! It was lots of fun having such great seats. Thanks to Burns and Brenda! Grandma Gutke is taking us out to dinner tomorrow night.

Birthday Scooter

2009-01-07T17:24:00.008-07:00

Jada had a birthday. Her mom bought her this adorable scooter. It is too bad the winter weather has hit. It will be a while before she can ride it in the neighborhood. It reminds me of the Lambrettas Ryan and Abbi collect and restore. I thought they would really enjoy seeing this. Don't you think Kitty needs one?

Kathy Higgins Dead at age Fifty-four

2008-12-30T11:31:00.011-07:00

Jeff and Jessica called us yesterday with the sad news that Jessica's mother, Kathy Higgins, had passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. Kathy was a wonderful wife, mother, and grandmother. We admired her and will miss our association with her. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Higgins family.

Snowed in!

2008-12-26T14:02:00.013-07:00

We woke up to over a foot of snow! Gordon has shoveled all morning long. Notice the snow is as high as the mailbox. We may not see the lawn until spring.

We are glad this didn't hit before Christmas. It would have made it difficult for kids to come for parties.

Gutke Christmas Party & Family Brunch

2008-12-25T16:22:00.032-07:00

The talent show was a hit. Check out the cousins singing!
I remembered that my camera takes video after most of the talent numbers were finished. Here is Sam singing Rudolph. Notice I forgot to turn the camera the right direction. Also, I am sorry I stopped so soon. I turned off the camera just before he jumped off the stage to end his talent.

Up on the House Top

This years Nativity had beautiful angels and regal wisemen.

Our Nativity had a live baby Jesus.

Great Grandma is AMAZING!

We had a breakfast after a cousin slumber party.

We missed Kitty, Ryan and Abbi. Merry Christmas to all our friends and family. It is wonderful to spend time with family during the holiday season.

Geddes Christmas Party

2008-12-25T15:32:00.034-07:00

Here is a proud grandpa enjoying time with his kids and grandkids!

Our Christmas celebrations started the Saturday before Christmas. We ushered in the holidays with food, family, and fun. Here are a few photos of our party.
Eight of the fourteen Geddes Grandkids were here. We missed Kevin and Sunee and Jennifer and Hyte's families. Wish they lived closer!
The White Elephant presents were a hit!
Check out our "Hula Angel Cheerleaders!" "Dress ups" are always fun.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas Day! Jennifer and Hyte and their children called us Christmas Eve. Hailey accompanied them on the piano as they sang Christmas Carols to us. It is truly a beautiful time of year. It is also a busy exhausting time. Gordon and I are taking it easy today! MERRY CHRISTMAS to friends and family.

Samuel is 4!

2008-12-08T17:25:00.009-07:00

Check out Samuel's fourth birthday cake. I made him a "Speedracer" cake. He had an exciting party at Chucky Cheese. I really need to get with it on my blogs. Thanks to all of you for your blogs. Hopefully with the holidays coming, I will find more to share. Three posts in over two years isn't too impressive. I actually spent lots of time and a couple hundred dollars setting up a blog that was only open by invitation. It is grandmageddes.com. It didn't really catch on with friends and family members. I think I will let that site expire and blog on this blogspot. It doesn't make sense to spend a hundred dollars a year when people weren't logging in. Is my life interesting enough to blog.

My second attempt at blogging . . .

2008-04-19T04:39:00.004-06:00

A year and a half ago I created this blog. I really didn't do anything with it at the time. A couple of months later, I created another blog that was private and by invitation only. Only a few family members have gotten involved with it. After following many family member's blogs, I decided I wanted to activate this site. I thought it might be more accessible and viewed more.

Thanks to Ryan for keeping us updated with Abbi's recovery. Gordon and I recently returned from helping them while Abbi is healing. I had a blast playing with an adorable granddaughter. With a little help from me, Gordon was able to do a few odd jobs at their home. We had a great visit. Notice the beautiful roses Ryan and Abbi sent as a "Thank You." They are gorgeous!