Shirley you can’t be serious!

On May 14th, 1947 my grandparents, Ross and Marge Shirley were married. Now here we are 60 years later celebrating an amazing anniversary. Friday afternoon I packed the kids up and made the drive to St Anthony Idaho to spend the weekend with the Shirley clan. Kate had to work all weekend, so I was on my own. But not to worry. We plugged the DVD player into the car, positioned it so that everyone could see, but Bean couldn’t touch buttons, and we were in business. 4 ½ hours later we rolled into the Shirley’s circular driveway. We were the first of the crew to arrive, and I think I offended Grandma by not staying for dinner. She’s not in the best of condition, and I didn’t want to burden her with feeding us, so I took the kids to McDonald’s as a reward for not driving me insane on the drive up.

Ard and Jan arrived later that evening. Alley decided to bring her kids up Saturday morning, giving Chas a ride. My Dad was going to head up Friday night, but remembered at the last minute that Patty had given him Saturday matinee tickets to Les Miserable, and he might have been in trouble had he skipped. So he drove straight from the performance Saturday evening. Beckie and Erik also made the trip on Saturday, which I was happy to see. They decided to stay in a hotel, which was a good thing, because Grandma’s house isn’t that big, and we were getting tight.

But Alan made the toughest trip. He and Jeff had tickets to the Jazz game Saturday night, so they drove up Sunday morning, then Alan rode back Sunday night with Beckie and Erik. That’s too much driving for one day. Especially since Alan had to ride in the back of Beckie’s VW bug.

Grandpa Shirley is not doing too well. Last week he fell and broke his clavicle, and has been flat on his back in bed ever since. But Saturday night he made the arduous journey out to the TV room to watch the Jazz game. The man has his priorities straight. Fortunately his trip was not in vain, as the Jazz won. It is hard to see Ross in such rough shape. He has had a great long life, but it still pains me to have to help him out of the bed to get to the bathroom. Looking at the trophies on the mantelpiece, I am reminded that in his day he was a master marksman, and a very active person. He still is active as he can be. He rode his motorcycle around his fields until he fell and broke his hip. At that time Grandma took away the bike, and he got a 4 wheeler.

After helping Ard with some yard work Saturday morning, Chas and I took the kids to the St Anthony sand dunes. We buried the kids in the sand up to their necks, but they still got out. Bean and my niece Chloe hated the sand, but the rest of the kids thought it was great. At least, Hannah did until she fell face first down a dune. I felt bad for laughing, but it really was a sight.

I did have one scare when I came over the crest of a dune to find Patrick's shoes buried in the sand. Fortunately, though, he wasn't still attached to them.
Sunday morning we drove down to my cousin Jason’s mission homecoming. He is fresh back from Italy, and his brothers are doing a good job corrupting him. My girls didn’t look as cute as they usually do for church, but without Kate’s help, it was the best I could do. After the homecoming, we returned to Grandma’s for a barbecue in honor of the 60th wedding anniversary. It was sad to see only half of the guests of honor in attendance at the party, and Grandpa stayed in bed. But she was in good spirits, and I could tell that she was in heaven being surrounded by her children, grandchildren and great-grandkids.

After dinner my Dad and his brothers broke out the guitars, at which time we decided to head down the road for a pickup basketball game. We played 3 on 3 at uncle Nephi’s driveway, and were lucky to escape without injuries. Nephi has brick exteriors on his house, and Erik, while stealing a pass fell backward, missing the corner by a scant inch. But it was good to get a game in, since we never seem to get all of us in the same place at the same time.

It was a short trip, but I am glad we went. Instead of watching TV or playing Gameboy all weekend, the kids got to do some things they don’t normally get to do. I took Patrick into Grandpa’s shed, which is bigger than my house. His eyes nearly popped out when he saw the ski boat, tractors and various farm tools. We took the kids on rides with Grandpa’s 4 wheeler. I got to explain to Patrick why great grandpa has a ditch in front of his house, and what crop irrigation means. The kids discovered two bird nests. They also got to play on the Shirley’s organ. Friday night while Ard and I were visiting, a raccoon came right up to the back slider door and all but asked for a handout. Though the kids were asleep, they were excited when I told them about the brazen little creature that had been 20 feet from where they slept. The kids also got to play with second cousins that they don’t get to see often. At the anniversary party I counted a total of 35 people from the family who were able to make it. It was a great way to spend Memorial Day weekend.