Lindsey Unedited: Grandpa Roger Turns 62!

On Saturday we celebrated Christmas with Grandpa Roger and Grandma Candice and Grandpa Roger's 62nd birthday. I realized it has been exactly one year since I had last been to my dad's house. Crazy since he only lives 45 minutes away. We see each other throughout the year at family events and he's been up to our place - but I think because he and his wife have her kids living with them it's a little crowded in their house.

When we arrived the kids took their sleds to the hill behind Grandpa Roger's house and went sledding for the first time this winter. I wasn't watching but apparently they each face planted into the ice and they roughed up their faces. Poor kids! I was in the car adding the final touches to my brother Preston's memory book I made him. Preston is my younger half brother and my Dad told me that he doesn't have any pictures or video of his childhood. He had a sad childhood. So, I went to work and went through all my old cassette tapes, VHS tapes, photo albums and diaries and found audio of him as a baby, footage of him as a little kid, pictures that I copied, and lot's of journal entries where I wrote wonderful memories of him. I copied everything and put it all together in a nice album with a DVD I burned. I was bummed when I found out he wasn't there.

Grandpa Roger got a smoker for Christmas and so he he smoked these delicious ribs. Best BBQ I've had in a long time. I made cornbread muffins and whipped honey butter. Cherise made delicious baked beans and there was yummy coleslaw, baked potatoes and chips dip. It was such a surprise to see my Grandma Cavner! My kids know her as "blind grandma". She's been blind for the past 10 years or so and she lives in Manti. We don't get to see her often but when we do we are so happy because she's such a sweet person. Apparently she hitched a ride with three different relatives to make it to my Dad's house - so she had been traveling all day.

After dinner we opened gifts. The kids all got pajamas and a toy. My girls got cute fleece blankets. My grandma gave us her tradition of $2 bills to every person in a Christmas envelope. She is so kind. I gave my Dad and Candice a fun card game called, It Came to Pass and a movie. For his birthday present I gave my dad, the new paperback copy of our book, The Realm. He was so excited. I also gave him a gift certificate to Texas Roadhouse. My brother gave him the same present so we joked he could buy him and his wife a really nice meal. The same thing happened last year when my sister and I both gave him gift certificates to Outback Steakhouse. We all think alike!