My grandparents 1-31-11

I love my grandparents.  I wish that I had all four of them still here with me, so that I could see them, and talk with them.  I never knew my dad's dad....Papa.  His name is Ellis Biggs (I love the name Ellis, if I would have had another boy, he would have been named Ellis.  Papa died before I was born.  I have heard how wonderful he was.  When I think of him I think of a gentle giant.  I'm not sure how big he was, but in my mind, I think he was big.  I knew my grandmother, Wona Nora Bellamy Biggs Hamblin ( I love saying her whole name.).  She died when I was in the 7th grade.  I will never forget that day.  Nathan came and got me from school, and when I got home mom told me, and I immediatley asked where dad was, and she said that he was in his bedroom, I was so worried for him, and I hurt so badly for him, because I knew how important grandmother was to him.  My dad is very much like grandmother.  Proper and well poised.  I  have always felt in awe of my grandmother.  She seemed like a fashion grandmother, always prim and proper, and so well put together.  She always called me Becky.  I am in no way a real Becky, but when she called me that I felt like the most important person in the world.  One thing that I remember about her is that she loved to exercise and stay in shape.  I think that's where I got my exercise drive.  She loved to take me over to see my cousins in Phoenix.  She always brought a watermelon to us when she visited us in St. Johns.  At the time she was married to my Uncle John.  He wasn't really my uncle, that was just our special name for him.  He was John Hamblin and they were married for as long as I can remember, so to me he was grandpa.  My parents went to Salt Lake for conference, and one year she met us there and it just happened to be my year to go, so I got to hang out with grandmother and uncle John.....  Priceless.  I loved the stew she always had on the stove when we first drove into Mesa on our visits there.  When I was a teenager I would never want to do anything wrong, because I knew that grandmother was watching me from heaven and I didn't want to dissapoint her.  In my prayers I would always tell Heavenly Father to tell my grandmother "Hi", and that "I miss her so much."  She may have died when I was very young, but she made a huge impact on my life.  I cannot wait to see her again, and hear her call me "Becky"

My mom's parents are Rudge and Ruth Hiatt, and I am so blessed to have them still living.  I am so glad that my parents made a huge effort every Christmas to take us to Mesa so that we could spend this special holiday with them.  When grandmother was alive we had Christmas morning breakfast over at her house with all of the cousins.  We had porkchops, eggs, and freshly squeezed grapefruit juice.  Oh the memories.  I remember waking up Christmas morning, and coming down the stairs at grandma Hiatt's house to see what santa brought.  Christmas is so magical.  Grandma and Grandpa would be so happy for whatever we had received.  I always knew that I would get some sort of clothing from grandma, and I was always excited to see what it was.  I was always a bit sad when grandpa would tell us that he would have to leave to go and do rounds at the hospital, but I remember being so proud of him, and his ability to help other people.  I loved it when grandpa would get my sugar (a term used in North Carolina for kisses)  I always knew that I was his favorite.  I'm pretty sure that everyone else thought the same thing.  I loved learning to cook from grandma.  Her method of cooking was to put whatever you thought would taste good into the pot.  Yum.  I am pretty proud of some the things that I can do in the kitchen just from watching her.  We always felt so welcome at their house.  I loved seeing them in Pine, and having our reunions there.  I couldn't wait to get out of the car, because I knew that they both would be so happy to see me.  They took me to Lake Powel at least one year.  Grandma made all of the food before hand, froze it and then took it up in coolers.  Man we ate good.  I remember that we had real lazagna.  I remember every year grandma taking me school shopping.  She taught me how to take care of my clothes.  Grandma always kept up with the styles.  It was fun to have her tell me, "no that's not instyle, pick something else"  I always liked to tell people that my grandpa was a surgeon, he made me a bit prideful, but I think that could be counted at the good kind of pride.  One of my favorite things about my Hiatt granparents is to see them at our Pine reunion.  In the past they have done their Hill Billy act, which is pretty Ha-larious, but my most favorite part is to hear their testimonies, and for them to tell us how much they love us all, (and our family is humongus).  At the end of the weekend grandpa always leaves us with his blessing.  This is a memory that I will always, always treasure.  One year he sang his favorite song, and I couldn't stop crying.  I think now that I'm getting older, I appreciate things like that more.

I love both sets of grandparents.  I am so happy for the legacy that they have left me.  They all have influenced my life in a big way.  I am so grateful they have all lived their lives close to the Lord, and have shown faith in the gospel.  What they have given me, is something I hope to pass to my children.  And I'm so wonderfully blessed with parents that want to be and are being these kind of grandparents to my kids.  The Lord is so very kind. 

Here are some pictures of when my sisters and mom got to go on a quick trip to Mesa to see Grandpa and Grandma Hiatt.  Things are a bit different now that they are older, but oh so very precious I hold each moment I have with them very dear.