LASTING MEMORIES

"The true art of memory is the art of attention."
-Samuel Johnson


"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose."
-From the TV show THE WONDER YEARS


"Back on it's golden hinges the gate of memory swings, and my heart goes into the garden and walks with olden things."
Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I made many memories with these two cuties yesterday.
One of my best-ever memories
was becoming their GRAMMiE D! 

Making a fun memory of dancing with balloons to
the new Justin Bieber Christmas CD! 

These two seem to need a stage
so I have many memories of them
dancing on coffee tables at my house!

 

A bucket of memories...
here are Beau and Mariah playing nicely together
with toys that were once my kid's.
Let the memories live on! 

My little MARTHA STEWART here...
tasting the beaters!
We made Christmas cookies together yesterday.
I am quite sure everyone has memories like this one.

Beau is actually sitting still on a chair...
now that is a memory for sure!
And his popsicle is in the bowl here, too ,
however he decided to paint the chair
with it after this photo!
You can see by his face he
was scheming up something!!!

Mariah's favorite part of the cookie making was
 the dipping her hands in the soft flour
and sprinkling it on the dough before rolling it out.
Needless to say the cookies are rather dry and hard!
hehehe... but it is still a memory, right?

Don't let those big brown eyes fool you...
they may melt your heart but often
he is thinking what mischief he can get into next! 

Here is Mariah in my second shift of Babysitting yesterday,
She went to a "Build A Bear" Birthday Party
for her little dancing friend,  Cadence.
Now a days treat bags are almost becoming passe...
now they come home from a party with a gift!
Mariah named her bear, OOPSIE!

My little dribbler on round 2 of babysitting yesterday,
he is such a little character now!
I make many memories just kissing
those chubby cheeks of his along with
cleaning up the trail he leaves behind himself!

So many memories at Grammie D's revolve
around movies and treats!
 Last night we watched the classic
"Alice In Wonderland" animated movie.
This one holds memories from way back for me.

More memories with friends Joan and Gerry on Saturday.
We went out for JAPANESE food... yum!

We spent a lot of our night comparing notes on
our Japan memories over the great food.

Here is a blast from the past...  1993
Here are my dancing Christmas Trees in front of
one of the many "BOB HINITT" props! 

This pic hangs in my basement to this day...
Here is my Circus Production in front of the
"BOB HINITT" Circus Tent!
I think this was in 1988

Another blast from the past...in the eighties...
This also hangs in my basement...
The giant WIZARD of OZ face was created by
"BOB HINITT" as well.


I made many MEMORIES this past weekend along with recalling some older ones as well.

Any MEMORY I make with my grandkids is a cherished one for me, and I am hoping some of them will be MEMORIES they will fondly remember in years to come .

Yesterday Jana and Nels were doing a little reno to the back of Jana's storage area of her store. So we babysat the kids in the morning and then again after the store closed for the early part of the evening. We had so much fun doing many things with the kids. Mariah is becoming such a little lady...and Beau is now becoming such a little character! It is so much fun to see all the stages they go through as they grow up...
and they are growing up so fast.
I am never regretful of taking lots of pictures,
as they will hold many of the memories
of their future!

We enjoyed a delicious JAPANESE supper with good friends, Joan and Gerry on Saturday night.
Their daughter, Chantelle, spent some time performing in Japan around the same time as Jana did. So we found ourselves reviewing our fond memories of those trips to Japan.
Oddly enough with our 3 trips there... we never got brave enough to try SUSHI in JAPAN... we waited to give it a go back here.... and discovered we really like it.
We went to the restaurant called
 OTOWA , which I highly recommend.

This past Friday, Saskatoon lost another one of it's "BELOVED CITIZENS".
Mr. Bob Hinitt.
He was a family friend, a fabulous teacher of mine, as well as a very big contributer to the community in many ways.

His artistic and creative talents were matched by no one... he could make the most unreal props and settings for many plays out of some one's trash! He also created many Christmas dispalys in his front yard that became a
"MUST SEE" on everyone's Christmas light tour. He had many moving parts and such detail to animation in all his work. He was a man of PASSION and it shone through
in everything he did.

He would spend up to 18 hours per day,  for months leading up to Christmas, on his displays and continued to do that for 59 years.
Not only did he teach me French and Drama classes in high school, I called upon him to create many props for my dance studio in later years. Those memories I'll cherish forever.

My mom shared with me that Mr. Hinitt's mom created my mom's head dress at her wedding. I know they were friends of mom's family.

Mr. Hinitt was a kind a generous man. He collected for many charities revolving around animals. He had many rescue cats himself... often ones with injuries. I remember one cat he rescued called "Hoppy", who had a missing leg!

He took as much pride in his garden and plants in the summer as he did in the winter of his big festive displays. My father-in-law, Greg, was asked by Mr. Hinitt on several occasions to come and photograph his lovely floral gardens as well as his Christmas displays.

There was a nice write up on him in Saturday's paper, but still no obit has appeared. I know he will be missed by many and very fondly remembered.

On a different note... if my MEMORY serves me right....tomorrow November 15th is
Beau and Mariah's Grandma Nancy's birthday!
Mariah calls her Grandma "ANCY"... and her and I refer to ourselves as "TOG"...
(which stands for "The Other Grandma!")
Happy Birthday "TOG ANCY!"

On that note... here is my rhyme of the day!

Each day we make a memory
with everything we do...
Some memories are bigger,
but all are memories... true?
Sometimes the simplest things we do
are the just very best,
Like dancing to our favorite tunes
among all of the rest.
It's fun to take a little walk
way down a memory lane,
And just revisit times of joy
time and time again!
And after loved ones earn their wings
to fly high up above,
They leave behind their very many
memories of love.
While we are still here on earth,
we'll chalk the memories up...
By snapping many photos
and enjoying every cup!
Every little thing we do has
something special to it,
From spending time with loved ones...
to go over and renew it.
When people that we love the most
have their time to part,
We get by on their memories
that live on our heart.
Live within the moment
and what memories it will bring,
Because it is those memories
that teach our heart to sing!