Hawaii Five Five

Kara, Alexander, Sienna, and William all wanted to say how much they love Grandma Bagley!  They said to say how nice she is, how she always smiles, and how she makes them feel important and loved and how they love it when she comes to visit.  They also said they had so many happy memories of her that they had a hard time coming up with just one.  They also said that they thought it was really cool that she and Grandpa served a mission. 

We decided to talk about our trip to Hawaii with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Gwennie, and Grandma Michaelson in 2012.  It was one of the most magical vacations ever!  The scenery was beautiful and everything was even more fun since we had so many fun people with us.

Whether we were at the top of a volcano...

Or down at the beach on the ocean...

Grandma was great fun to be with!

One thing that was extra-special on this trip was that Grandma and Grandpa were celebrating their 55th Wedding Anniversary!

When we were having dinner at the Polynesian Cultural Center, they asked everyone who was celebrating a wedding anniversary to come down onto the stage.  Then, they asked who had been married the longest out of everyone on the stage.  Grandpa and Grandma won! 

They asked Grandpa what his secret was in being happily married for so many years and he said, "Do whatever your wife wants, and everyone will be happy!"  Everyone laughed and applauded at that.  Then they asked Grandma and Grandpa to lead all the other couples in dancing to a song for their anniversary.

It was really sweet.  What a wonderful memory for all of us.

William's Buddy

Will loves it when Grandma comes because she always takes the time to sit down and play with him.  She reads him stories, plays cars, does puzzles, and plays games with him.  When she comes while the other kids are in school, he thinks she is only here to see him.  Once, we were trying to visit about something and he said, "Mommy, you can leave now because Grandma is here to see ME."  This kid really loves his Grandma!

Always There

For as long as I can remember, good 'ol Grandma Bagley has been there for everything. I don't remember a single birthday that she has missed and I am very grateful for her and her conspicuous "Big Hug" cards. There are too many amazing memories to even think of right now, but I love that she is always there for every one of us to create these memories with. She is certainly a stupendous and inspirational woman; she is the definition of brilliant and is the perfect example to have as a grandma to grow up with. Because of her amazing personality, honesty, and righteousness, she is the best kind of person whom you'd want to have always there. She has an uplifting spirit about her and she is super funny. Some of my favorite memories are going to grandma and grandpa's house, laughing with them, eating her delicious food, and falling asleep every time I'd lay down on their extremely comfy couch. I love grandma and I love spending as much time with her as possible; I am glad she is always there.
Happy Birthday Grandma Bagley,
Love, Samantha

Dear, Sweet Gloria

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Gloria is a big, happy smile!  She is always smiling and laughing and doing her very best to make the world a better place!  She is kind, gracious, and non-judgmental and her warmth and friendship have been a priceless blessing in my life, the lives of my children, and of course, my husband.  She truly tries to follow the Savior all day, every day of her life.

It is hard to talk about Grandma, without including Grandpa too.  We have been so blessed to have Grandma and Grandpa so close in our lives.  We originally made a deliberate choice to move close to them and our other grandparents because constant family interaction is so important to us.  After entwining our two households, I feel we are even closer.  We love it when we have extra food and they can stay for an impromptu dinner.  I love being in their ward and sitting by them at church - and going to Relief Society with Gloria.  It is a special gift to our children to be able to sit by them in sacrament meeting and even sometimes hear their prayers and testimonies - and even sing with them in the ward choir.  It seems very special to me to watch my little ones grow up on the land their daddy and grandpa loved: the third generation of little Bagleys to grow up here.  It always makes me happy in the afternoon when I hear the back doorbell ring, because it is usually Grandma here for a visit and to get the mail.  I tease her that when we move back to Vintry, we are going to have their mail sent there so that they still have to come visit us everyday!  All the kids come running and shout for joy when they hear her voice at the back stairs.

As they do for all their grandchildren, they always try to attend all of our important school, dance, and sporting events.  Holidays and birthdays would not be complete without them.  For years, we have had a tradition of eating Christmas brunch together with both sets of grandparents before we open our Christmas gifts.  It is my happiest part of Christmas to see those I love so much sitting around the table on Christmas morning.  (Even though the kids almost die waiting for us to finish so they can get to the presents!)

We have had so many wonderful vacations, activities, and fun times with them.  I get lonesome for Gloria if I don't talk to her almost every day and no event, even on the other side of the family, seems complete unless they are there.  She is one of the first people I call to share good news and bad.  She is one of the most wonderful people I know and even though I don't say it nearly enough, I sure hope that she knows how much I LOVE HER!  Happy Birthday Gloria!
Love, Lori

Apple Pie Training Academy

Anyone related to Gloria will tell you that she knows how to make the best apple pie in all the land.  All our family loves to eat it, but Alexander decided that he wanted to learn how to make it.  He especially wanted to make a pie "with a top on it."  Who would be more qualified to teach such a skill than Grandma? (And who could be so patient and sweet with so many excited little bakers-in-training?)  Everyone agreed that making pies with Grandma would be great fun, so on one of the days of Christmas break, Grandma brought over all the "fixins" for apple pie training academy.

Knowing how eager and excited each child would be to help, she wisely brought four little tins so that each one could have her one-on-one attention and instruction and their own little pie in the end.

She took us carefully and patiently through each step from preparing the cutting board for the dough...

Rolling out the dough to just the right shape and consistency...

Getting it into the little tins...

Cooking the apples with just the right amount of sugar...

 

Adding the apples with a bit of lemon juice and butter...

And adding the all-important top.

We even got all fancy and put each child's initial on top of their own little pie.

At last, it was time for the oven - and everyone said "pie" for the last step.

And, voila!  The finest kid-made pies in all the land!  (Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa shared the big pie!)  We ate like kings that night.  And what a fun memory for all of us.  THANK YOU GRANDMA - WE LOVE YOU!

Taking time to learn

We have been able to enjoy many fun trips with Mom and Dad.  We usually stayed somewhat close such as camping trips to Fish Lake or other nearby camping areas.  We even got to go to Lake Powell one year. Sometimes we even went as far as California and stayed with aunt Gwenny.  We got to go to Disneyland and also got to see Watts towers (see Watts Tower story) while we were there.

England Trip

There was one special trip England to visit Corydon, Lisa, Dustin and Ashley.  While they were stationed there with the air force.  Charles and I were fortunate to be able to go with.  Aunt Gwenny was able to meet up with us and come also. We had a great time and saw many wonderful and fascinating things.  We even took a little side trip to Paris with a bus load of people from England.
We became known as the five Americans.

England Trip

I remembered that there was a big time difference there, I think it was about seven hours. Mom really did not want to change her watch to the correct time so anytime we asked her what time it was she would have to take a minute and count back from Utah time.  I also remember that where ever we visited  she would always take a minute or two to find out as much information about the place as possible. If there were pamphlets, books or brochures about the place she would be interested in having them and reading up about it. It was the same on trips when we were little kids too. If there was a historical marker or monument on the way she would want to stop for a minute and read and study it. I know that when we were little kids we were probably impatient about things like that but now I am grateful for the enrichment and the things that we were able to learn along the way.
Every place that we have visited has an amazing history. From Bryce Canyon to Yellowstone, and from London and Paris to Gates of the Mountain Montana. It is great to not just be able to see these sites but to know the history behind them too.

I am also grateful for a mom who has learned and shares so much about family history too.
I love you Mom
Love, Joann

Apple cobbler

Many have noted how great of a cook Grandma is and how resourceful she is.  I was reminded of a time when Grandma combined both of those skills.  It was a family barbecue at the end of summer, we had  a great dinner and were just beginning the best part of the meal, dessert.  Grandma had made a delicious apple cobbler, but we all started thinking it was odd how she kept asking everyone if they thought it tasted okay. Once we were all finished she announced it was not apple cobbler,it was in fact zucchini cobbler.  The best part was that Grandma had even taken the time to shape the zucchini like Apple slices so that nobody would suspect a thing.

She had found the best way to use all of the extra zucchini and make everyone eat their vegetables at the same time.
I love you Grandma and promise to always eat my vegetables.
Love, Melanie