Memories of growing up...

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about my grandparents . They have both since passed on and I still miss them so much. Every spring time I am reminded of my grandparents and the pink blossom trees that lined the several courtyards of the condominium complex that they lived at and managed for 30 years.

I have such fond memories of going to

visit my grandparents . We would play hours and hours running through these trees , gathering the crap apples and blossoms , to make some kind of stew . I remember staring up at them and marveling at their beauty and my mind would be swept away to some magical place .....

We were blessed to to see my grandparents often and got to spend weeks at a time during the summer . We especially looked forward to my cousins coming from Arizona to stay. My oldest cousin was only a year younger , she was the sister I always longed to have. My mom would sew us matching outfits and we would play, play , PLAY for hours. I would want her to go swimming with me constantly , and coming from Pheonix , Az, she often got bored with swimming ( just had to be in the pool all the time back home ) or if it was cooler , like 80 degree's she would often say it was too cold :) . One of our favorite toys was a doll named Mary . We would set her hair in rollers, over and over again. My girls now on occasion play with Mary.... it is amazing she has some hair left. ( Mary is pictured to the left and is sporting some stylish ponies from my girls ) :)

Grandma would give us some pocket change so that we could walk down to the quick stop store and buy some penny candy. We would get to eat it all if we wanted . :) Her swedish style crepe pancakes , yum yum, they always tasted just a bit different than my mom's version. Grandpa was a man of few words, but he was always smiling and kind, bustling around tinkering on this and fixing that. Every now and then he would through on a pair of swim trunks and come swimming with us.

I miss those days, my cousins ( it has been far too long ) and most of all , my grandparents.