Going from dating, to marriage, to starting a family is often referred to as "jumping out of the fry pan into the fire." But, these past two weeks I have had the pleasure of spending time with our grandchildren. Our home was full to the brim. Their stuff was all over the place, every counter was sticky with peanut butter, tubs of toys were all over the place, I can hum the Star Wars WII game music, even though I never played it, the volume in our home increased to the point of insanity, and we had diapers in the trash cans. I was in Heaven. So was Neal. Raising a family was the biggest challenge and hardest thing we ever did. But, it was what we both wanted, even at the young age of 19 we knew we wanted to have a family with lots of kids. There were hard times and good times. But, we hope we left our kids with the idea that family was the most important thing in the world. All of our vacations were taken in exotic places like scout camp, girls camp, or California, to visit our family, their grandparents, aunts, and uncles. We don't regret a minute of this, because those relationships were so important to us. We can barely remember the difficult times but the good times come flooding back, especially when we experience some of them again through the eyes of our grandchildren. Going to the acquarium this past week, for example, and seeing a two year old squeal in delight at the sight of a seal swimming around. Having your four year old grandson run you down a path to look at a polar bear. Trying to take pictures where everyone is smiling at the same time. What a feat! Going out to eat together knowing someone might be unhappy about your choice of food. All of this adds to the experience. The best part is promising ice cream or candy for of good behavior. I may not have been eager to do this with my kids, but, I get to spoil my grandchildren. We had so much fun! Our oldest granddaughter is 10 and the youngest is 2. Megan, our second and 8 year old granddaughter, was just baptized on Saturday. She was all dressed in white and just beautiful. It is hard to believe, it seems we just had her blessed after her birth, we blinked our eyes and now she is 8. I can't believe how time has just flown by. I remember when I was young, some well meaning mom telling me to "enjoy my children when they were little because the time would past, oh, so quickly." I had four kids with two in diapers and not a minute to myself. I thought she was nuts. I was knee deep in diapers (cloth!), laundry, sleepless nights, and I couldn't finish a sentence without being interupted by some crisis. But, now every difficult time we had raising our kids is wiped from our memories when we see them with their children. It is a miracle, it is a pleasure, the greatest of blessings, and it is what makes life worth living, don't you think?
