Grandma-ma & Grandpa-pa

For most of you out there, living close to family probably is important to you. Now given the choice to live maybe in the same ward or street you'd probably have to consider that option, and given the option of living right next door you might just say to yourselves, what person in their right mind lives right next door to their families by choice!!! Yes I at one time asked myself that question. Call me crazy but we choice option number 3. Now unlike the old 70's game show "Lets Make a Deal"....which by the way should totally be re-aired for the amusement it would bring to many a family across the nation again, but that's beside the point, as I was saying, Before getting married we had that important decision to make. Where were we going to live? Now like most young newlyweds you are given the option of apartments in really scary neighborhoods because lets face it, who can really afford anything else when you first get married. We were fortunate enough to have been given another opportunity. A house next to what everyone refers to as "The Village". Yes that's correct we live in a row of 4 houses, all of us immediate family members of my husband. I thought it would be crazy, and intrusive on my newly married life. Anyone ever seen "Everybody Loves Raymond"?? I thought for sure that'd be my life. It turned out to be exactly the opposite and now I know we have totally spoiled ourselves, because at some point one or all of us is going to move and we're going to miss the constant parties, dinners, playing games, movie watching, grandkids running around together, family home evenings, being in the same ward....and everything else that I can't name on here. One of my favorite parts of all of that though is that we have the opportunity to live right next to my husbands grandparents. They are so fun and such a blessing in our lives. Plus how cool is it for my little monkey to grow up not only right over the hill from my parents but also next door to her other grandparents, and great grandparents. We get to hear a lot of cool stories from them about their lives and eat grandma's really good cookies :) She even makes them soft for me. Well I just wanted to post some pictures of them because even in their mid eighties they still keep up with their great grandkids and play with them for hours if the kids want.....which is what they did the other day. When I walked in this is the first thing I saw. Some kind of fort. I knew some action was going on....

Then I realized after I was told very sternly by monkey number 3 to be quiet and sit down, that we were playing school and that grandma and I just weren't going to be allowed to chat. As you can tell by her excited face, she was getting to play the role of the teacher that day.

Some of the students decided to fall asleep in their book or maybe she was just hiding from our very strict teacher!

And then there was one "Star Student" who was praised and received a bow for sitting quietly and observing lol

She decided to make my brother in law who is serving a mission right now a long scroll with all of the family drawn on it. We have a good sized family but I think we might have ended up with a few extra people on that baby lol

Stopping to smell the flowers, more like scowl at it and let it tickle her nose. I missed the sneeze that quickly followed


One of her many purses luckily only 2 were with us this time :)

Guess it was an inside joke :)