My Grandfather, John Elliott

Father's Day weekend also brought the celebration of my grandfather's 85th birthday. Several months ago, my grandmother thought up the idea of trying to get as many of the family members together to celebrate Pop-pop as possible. In the end, it turned out that everyone was able to make it! Except for my one cousin who is serving a mission. But all his children, grandchildren (& spouses) and great-grandchildren were able to be there making it a (too short!) family reunion. AND it was all a surprise... he had no idea anyone other than his children (my mother & her siblings) would be there for his birthday. So as each member arrived, he was surprised and surprised again and again. It's so fun to be on the knowing end of a surprise, doncha think?

The weather was beautiful. The company was wonderful and it was so great to come together to show our father/grandfather/great-grandfather how much we appreciate what he has done with his life and how he has loved us.

Here are all the girls (except my cousin Liz)

Baby Elliott- isn't that face adorable?!  This was the first chance we've had to meet him and we all fell in love with him.

The first day was spent at the house on Lake Seneca.  Steve got right down to business...hoping to catch some fish.

Lots of time spent on the dock- the water was pretty frigid, though- definitely too cold for swimming.  Although some of the crazy kids decided to jump off the boathouse roof into the water.  They got out pretty quickly.

Ella playing Peek-A-Boo with Elliott- practicing for her big sister duties

"Aunt" Hailey & Ella

Here I am, 9 days before baby's due date (and 4 hours from my doctor & hospital)- cooking up some food for the gang.

Aunt Barbara prepped a wonderful scavenger hunt that led us on a tour through Pop-pop's life and touched on important aspects of his life.  She created a puzzle that had photos of many important times in his life that were all put together to create the last 85 years.... photos of each piece follow:

His childhood in Brooklyn, NY and his service in the United States Marine Corps.  He was one of the survivors of the Battle of Iwo Jima during WWII.   

This was his Marine-issued coat.

Marriage & Fatherhood.  Married now for over 60 years to my amazing grandmother and father to three wonderful & successful children.  

One of the elegant photos of their wedding day.

Architect & contractor.  He designed and built, including instructing his family (wife and three young children), the family summer home, Longview, in Orange County, NY.  This home eventually became their full time home after his retirement and holds many many happy memories for all of us.

Wood Craftsman- one of his talents & hobbies.  Throughout my life he has constructed many items with his own two hands for me: a rocking chair, a rocking horse, a dollhouse and furniture, bookcases, benches for my dining table, a cradle for my babies, little chairs for the kids, a coat rack, bedside tables (which Matt helped him with), cutting boards, and Christmas decorations just to name a few.  Much of my home is furnished by the work of his hands.  

Grandfather & Great-grandfather.  He has 7 grandchildren and (almost) 4 great-grandchildren.

A Man of Faith. He has always been a man of faith.  He loves the scriptures and I was able to sit in on many of his gospel lessons- always interesting!  He is a good teacher and has shared his faith with our family both through words and example.

Prepping the birthday cake for the birthday boy

Opening our gift of "vintage" candy from his childhood.  Ella and I ventured down to Economy Candy to find some candy that used to be popular when my grandfather was young.

My uncle and sister dreamt up a wonderful idea for my gardening-loving grandfather.  They decided to dig a rose garden in his yard and have one rose bush for each grandchild & great-grandchild- 11 bushes in all.  They spent several hours digging and prepping the plot.  Then, on his birthday when we were all together, we each planted our bush.  I didn't actually plant mine since I'm in a state where bending is challenging.... so Uncle Bruce did it for me.

The Rose Garden Masterminds: Uncle Bruce and Laura

Pop-Pop made stakes for each of the plants with all of our names.

Lexi finds a frog!

And some family photos:

It was an awesome and happy weekend! We are a family that gets along really well and it's always wonderful when we are all able to be gather together. We missed Liz alot. And we wish it had been more than 2 days of family fun. But we are so grateful for the mini-reunion that it was for the efforts of everyone to be there.

"The more we get together the happier we'll be!"