In Minnesota

Hello,

Granddaughter, Sophia and the dog Cloe act appropriately happy to see us when we come. A wriggle, jiggle, shouting, whining, no holes barred welcome is the best kind. The great thing is that it can’t be bought on the market at any price. Mourners used to be for hire, but not joy spreaders. Grief can be faked, but not happiness?

Today Sophia and I have spent the day together. Most of the time we were indoors, but some out. While she was occupied with the small slide or the sand I did get a few weeds pulled. Brian now has some winter onions whether he wants them or not as I brought up three of them. Perhaps you know that winter onions just keep coming back if you do not pull all of them. They do not form big bulbs, but are more like green onions.

When Brian and Jen were gone in December, Sophia enjoyed helping me “wash” dishes. She stood on a chair, but it was later deemed unsafe by her parents as the chair could slip. Today when I told Sophia that I was going to take care of the dishes she raced ahead of me, slid a chair over to the sink, and climbed up ready to help. Thinking that Grannies can get away with anything, I hooked my foot around the rung of the chair thus anchoring it as we proceeded to get the work done.

This morning we did a video chat with the Utah cousins. Olivia spent quite a bit of time talking to Sophia and I. Almost two year old Nora did too, but her conversation consisted of going in the tent and yelling to tell us that she was asleep. It is fun to see these girls interact a bit more with each other. I am grateful for the webcam which allows them to see and speak easily with each other.

Paula