Great-Grandpa Spencer's 86th Birthday

My grandpa turned 86 last week.  He is the only sibling left of 11, I think.  We don't see my dad's family too often.  My Grandma Spencer ( Lucille Muchison) was raised in North Carolina.  Her dad died when she was six and her mother raised her and her siblings alone. She was as feisty and groomed as any southern belle I've ever seen.  She loved us and always wished we visited more often. She made us dried apples and offered us ice cream.  She was incredibly frugal and kept her own money in her own account - so she would have some for later, I guess. When my Aunt Brenda cleaned out her things after she passed away a year and a half ago, she found 2 or 3 thousand dollars in an old purse. The thing I remember most about her is that she remembered EVERYTHING.  Oh, and she drank lye as a child and they removed half of her stomach.

My Grandpa grew up in Salt Lake.  He got mad at his dad when he was 17, ran away and joined the navy. That is how he met my grandma.  I don't know how their relationship really was (except she didn't want him to spend all of her money), but he ALWAYS told me how much he loved her and how wonderful she was.  Even though his memory is slipping, he still speaks VERY fondly of her.  It seems like he spent a good portion of his time on a motorcycle.  My grandma had one too for awhile - we used to ride it in the field behind their house. My dad and uncle Dennis used to race motorcycles. My grandpa also owned a glass company until he retired.  Then he fixed random cars in the back garage for fun.  That's how I got the pinto.   I'm not sure if driving a pinto was a punishment for totalling my sisters car a week after I got my driver's license or what, but after the initial shock and embarrassment, it turned out to be a pretty cool car.

What a jumble of random thoughts.  To finish.... My Aunt Brenda is the oldest.  She has two kids, Brett and Mandy.  My dad is next with his three kids and then my uncle Dennis (who looks A LOT like my dad).  Dennis married Colleen and had two kids, Shauna and Craig.  My dad's family is incredibly laid-back - except for my grandma and my aunt Brenda.  My cousins are really nice, but kind of on the quiet side.  We don't really see each other anymore which is sad. When we were little we spent every Christmas Eve at my aunt Brenda's house exchanging gifts and feasting on mini smoked hot dogs and fried won tons.  We also used to have sleepovers at my Aunt Brenda's house.  I never met any of her husbands so it was just the cousins and her.  She used to sing us Senor Don Gato and make us crepes for breakfast.  And she taught me how to eat powdered sugar on my pancakes because I don't like syrup. I still do that.

One more thing.  My grandpa has the GREATEST yard EVER.  Its about an acre, I think and it is mostly grass, some shrubbery. four very mature fruit trees, and a nice, big garage hiding behind them. I used to love playing in this yard.  It used to be so different.  They had a house right next to the one he lives in now, but he is really close to the mountains and one year there was a gigantic mudslide that filled his home with mud so they built a new one on the same lot.

My dad, Grandpa, John and Ammon

Some of the Great-Grand kids

Shauna, Craig and his wife, Dad, Mom, Brenda, Grandpa

Allie and Grandpa having a conversation

Tara and the girls picking nectarines

Me, Grandpa and the Great- Grand kids

Isaac and Kylie

My dad